


Whiskey Fever

by UnknownBard



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 1899-1900, And more to cum!, Angst and Humor, Blood and Violence, F/F, Happy ending or your money back GUARANTEED!!!!, I am Supercorp Trash, Mentions of Physical and Sexual Abuse, Mild torture, Now with 20 percent more smut!, Outlaw Kara, Outlaw Lena, Western AU, Why Did I Write This?, action and pew pew, cowboy Kara, it's not exactly friend to lovers, kara hella butch, more like they both annoy the fuck out of each other, to wow you're kinda hot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:54:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 46,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23352010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownBard/pseuds/UnknownBard
Summary: “Git on the horse, we ain’t gonna hurt ya.” One of them says, but it’s clear the revolver he has pointed at the raven-haired lady and the crooked grin on his face tells a different story.“Hop on the damn horse or I’ll shoot the pretty smile off your face!” The other yells, with less tact and more bite. He sounds like he’s missing a few teeth, looks like it too.“Calm the hell down! We ain’t gonna get any money for a dead body.” The one who doesn’t smell like sheep dung berates. And much to Kara’s surprise, the lady being held at gunpoint throws a hard left at the man’s jaw, no doubt jostling a few teeth loose.“Can I help you boys with somethin’?” Kara turns her head, tipping her hat at the woman cradling her now bruised fist against her chest. Her dark hair is loosely braided and she’s wearing a fine burgundy and purple dress, too nice for the wilderness anyway. She must live in the city. When the woman looks up at her, there’s an unbridled fire present in her emerald eyes and Kara can’t help the dazzling smile she sends her way.Or, western AU where Kara is the leader of a gang of outlaws and Lena is trying to escape a marriage to a rich a violent husband that was forced on her.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers
Comments: 121
Kudos: 675





	1. Hell, Or High Water

**Author's Note:**

> It would work as a one shot but I planed like 7 chapters in my head so yeah lmao. Let me know what y'all think.

**CHAPTER 1: HELL, OR HIGH WATER**

_**Louisiana-Mississip, somewhere on the road between Baton Rouge and Brookhaven.** _

_**April 22nd, 1899.** _

This particular road is deserted, nothing but beautiful country all around. There’s a woman on a horse, though enjoying the scenery is far from her mind. Her hair shines gold like the sun under the worn and dusty dark-colored gambler hat sitting atop her head. The horse snorts and shakes its pale mane while maintaining a trotting pace along the heavily traveled dirt road.

“You hungry, girl?” The woman looks through the leather satchel slung over her shoulder and produces a fresh apple, which she feeds the Kentucky Saddler who happily munches on the fruit directly from the gloved hand. The steed is fairly large, muscular in build and a rich chestnut color. 

She settles back in the saddle and lightly kicks her boots against the horse’s side to urge the animal into a slow gallop. The sun rays are hot against her sun-kissed skin and she curses Louisiana's lousy summer weather along with her Alex’s bright idea to settle everyone here. Alex was her sister. Half-sister as they have different mothers. Everyone in their circle refers to them as the Danvers sisters, Kara is the youngest of the two.

Kara is thankful she isn’t wearing her duster today. Instead, she has an overshirt that’s more grey than white, the first two buttons are undone and the sleeves are rolled up. The vest she wears on top of the shirt is a deep blue that brings out the cobalt in her eyes, or at least, that’s what Lucy always tells her.

She’s traveling back from Baton Rouge, reluctantly becoming her sister’s errand girl for a reason she’s yet to figure out when two loud voices interrupt her silent musing. 

“Git on the horse, we ain’t gonna hurt ya.” One of them says, but it’s clear the revolver he has pointed at the raven-haired lady and the crooked grin on his face tells a different story. 

“Hop on the damn horse or I’ll shoot the pretty smile off your face!” The other yells, with less tact and more bite. He sounds like he’s missing a few teeth, looks like it too.

“Calm the hell down! We ain’t gonna get any money for a dead body.” The one who doesn’t smell like sheep dung berates. 

Much to Kara's surprise, the lady being held at gunpoint throws a hard left at the man’s jaw, no doubt jostling a few teeth loose. 

“Can I help you boys with somethin’?” Kara turns her head, tipping her hat at the woman cradling her now bruised fist against her chest. Her dark hair is loosely braided and she’s wearing a fine burgundy and purple dress, too nice for the wilderness anyway. She must live in the city. When the woman looks up at her, there’s an unbridled fire present in her emerald eyes and Kara can’t help the dazzling smile she sends her way.

“This ain’t no business of yours. Move along.” 

He spits a tooth out and Kara chuckles, slipping the revolver out of the holster on her hip. Her thumb cranks the hammer back as she aims the barrel at his face. Her fingers curl around the comfortable grip and her index slides over the trigger. “Get the hell out of here and leave this lady alone unless you pieces of shit want one more hole in ya damn heads.”

The men recoil slightly at the confidence and harshness of her tone, but mostly at the gun and the look in her eyes that tell them she isn’t afraid to shoot them both. “She ain’t worth it. Got nothin’ on her.”

Not that they would know. These cowards wouldn’t even get close enough to rob the lady. The warning shots echos loudly and startles the men’s horses in a gallop, leaving them behind. They run off without looking back.

_No good fools._

“Why would you do that?” Her gaze meets the woman sitting atop the horse. She didn’t dress like most women she encountered, at least not the majority of them. Her smile is easy and beautiful and it eases her, at least until she notices the repeater and the two revolvers the woman carries. 

“Save ya from gettin' shot ya mean?”

“I was handling things just fine.” And she did. Sort of. Hell, even she knew it was a lie. 

“Sure ya did, Miss. Nice punch though.” Kara’s horse falls into step next to the disgruntled lady and she’s utterly confused why someone would be in such a sour mood after being rescued from the scoundrels who no doubt wanted to sell her like cattle. “What’s a lady like yourself travelin’ all alone around these parts for?” 

“Does anyone around here speak proper English?” She could have thanked her but decides it’s best to insult the woman who risked her life to save her. 

“You’re welcome, by the way.” Kara snorts, becoming irritated by the woman’s curt tone. “Where ya headed?” 

“Nowhere.” She answers and wonders if the blonde woman would ever stop speaking, or following her for that matter. 

Kara mumbles something that sounds a lot like ‘ungrateful little shit’ and the brunette wants to retort, but the comment was not so far from the truth.

“Where’s your home then?” 

“I have no home.” And it was, again, the truth. The life she led with a husband that only cared for her because of the social status of her family meant nothing to her. A man that would constantly drink himself stupid and strike her when she refused to let him use her body. A man known as the owner of Grand Trunk Railway: Edge Morgan. Their marriage certificate states her name is Lena Morgan, but she was born Lena Luthor.

“That so?” 

The raspy voice rouses Lena from her thoughts. “I’m not from around here.” 

Kara chuckles and it sounds even more irritating than her accent. “I ain’t blind, lady.” 

“Charming, aren’t you?” Lena shoots back. 

“I’d say the same about you, but you’ve got the personality of a horse's ass.” Kara rolls her blue eyes when the woman huffs and starts power walking like she’s suddenly in a hurry. “Hey. Hey!” She calls out to her. “Ya don’t got no horse. You just gonna walk to wherever ‘nowhere’ is?” 

Lena finally stops, resigning her glare for a tight-lipped smile. The rider has a point, even if she was never going to admit that aloud. “If you’re going to follow me, at least offer me a ride to the nearest town.” She should really know where that is. She hadn’t had a proper meal in days. 

“Town’s the other way ‘n I ain’t headin’ back there.” Kara readjusts the hat on her head as if stalling for time as she thinks some things over. “I got a camp not too far from here if you’re lookin' for a place to stay for a while. There’s a few of us. Might be better than walkin’ alone and lookin’ to get murdered by the first maniac that you cross paths with.” 

“And I’m just supposed to trust you’re not one of those maniacs?” 

Kara shifts sideways on the saddle and holds out her hand with a toothy grin she uses to persuade even the most unruly of beasts of her good nature. “Only one way to find out.” 

Apparently Lena has no sense of self-preservation so she takes the offered hand and with a grunt, Kara pulls Lena behind her. She sits uncomfortably, side saddle, and wraps her arms around Kara’s waist as she isn’t inclined to find out what it feels like to meet the ground below from this distance if she fell.

“Why don’t you got a horse? No money?” 

“I was never taught to ride,” was quite a surprising admission.

Kara laughs, stopping abruptly and turning to gaze at the woman over her shoulder when she realizes Lena isn’t trying to be funny. She thinks the uptight lady should try a bit harder. “No shit? Where are you from anyway?” 

“New York,” Lena answers sincerely though she wishes she could have lied instead. It’s easier. She doesn’t know what she would say. No one wants to hear a sob story and she’s not willing to share her troubles with mere strangers. 

“New York?!” Kara exclaims. “The hell are ya doin’ all the way out here?” 

“I needed a change of scenery I suppose.” Because it’s clear that a woman, who apparently speaks better English than anyone in this state, would travel miles upon miles to stare at the open country, no matter how beautiful. 

Kara shakes her head slowly, wondering what could have happened to Lena to make her want to leave the cozy city life for this. “You got some kinda death wish, woman?” 

Lena leans forward, her chin lightly grazing the woman’s shoulder with every step the horse takes. “Who says you’re not the one in danger, Miss…?” 

“Kara Danvers, at your service.” 

“Lena," she replies curtly.

“No last name, huh?” 

They remain quiet for the rest of the ride. Lena reluctantly holds onto Kara’s waist even if her gut tells her not to trust her. That the stranger is definitely not as nice as she seems. Yet, there’s something about her that makes Lena second guess her usually very accurate gut instinct. 

Once they get close to camp a voice calls out to them. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me, dumbass,” Kara answers, her tone is laced with annoyance and Lena is glad to hear she isn’t the only one who has that effect on the blonde rider. 

The man is sitting on the rock next to the bushes. He has a scruffy beard and a young, handsome face that would make all her friends back in New York swoon, Lena thinks. “One of these days you’re gonna get yours, Danvers.” He warns with a snarl and spits out a wad of saliva-covered tobacco from his mouth.

“Keep talkin’ Mikey.” Kara drawls with a smirk. 

“Who’s the lady?” He asks curiously as he follows them further up the small path. 

“Found her by the side of the road.” Kara chuckles as if Lena’s predicament was a joke or a lie. Neither of which are correct. 

“She’s a pretty thing.” 

“Too pretty for you.” 

“You know I can hear you both, right?” Lena scoffs indignantly and something about Mikey’s laugh makes her want to kick him in the dick.

“She ain’t so nice when she opens her mouth. Ow!” Kara rubs her sore shoulder but refuses to show the pout on her lips to Lena, so she keeps her gaze forward. “Remember who saved your ass.”

“A foul-mouthed fool, that’s who.” 

“Well ya can’t choose your knight in shinin’ leather now can ya?” 

“Your sense of humor is truly dreadful.” 

Their bickering stops when the camp and it’s various tents and wagons come into view. There’s definitely more than just a few people here, Lena observes thoughtfully. 

“And we’re the poor bastards who have to listen to this dumb asshole laugh at her own jokes.” A woman says as she approaches the pair, dressed almost exactly like Kara but with darker colors, mostly black. Her hair is much shorter and brown, barely visible underneath the hat on her head. 

“I’ll show you dumb.” Kara quips as she quickly hops off her horse.

They dodge each other’s hits like they’ve practiced this exact dance many times before. Kara kicks the woman’s shin when the woman slaps her hat off her blonde head. Kara shoots her a dangerous glare as she uselessly shakes the dirt off the already dusty hat, grabbing the front of the brim with her index and thumb as she pulls it down on her head. 

Lena clears her throat, loudly, and Kara replies something along the lines of ‘excuse me your highness’ as she helps her down from the horse. She extricates herself from Kara’s arms as soon as her feet touch the ground. “So what do you _lovely_ folk do exactly?” 

“Whatever we want,” Kara answers with a shrug of her shoulders as if it’s not the most annoyingly vague answer Lena’s ever heard. 

“So you’re...outlaws?” It makes sense now. The camp, the guns, the _very_ poor social skills. 

Kara lifts her shoulders in a slow shrug. “If that’s what ya wanna call us.” 

Another answer that makes Lena want to scream her frustration at the blonde stranger she just met. “Then why did you save me back there? You could have very well let them kill me. You might have robbed me yourself any other day.” 

“I took pity on ya.” 

“You're so—” Lena trails off and growls as she roughly shoves her hands into the taller woman's chest. 

“That’s right, use ya big girl words,” Kara chuckles and shifts her weight, resting both her hands on the gun belt around her waist. 

Lena let’s out an exasperated low growl as she spins around, walking away from the camp. 

“Hey, come on now. Where ya goin’?” Kara gets a look from her sister who’s now standing beside her and shrugs. 

“Leaving!” She shouts over her shoulder as if it isn’t painfully obvious. 

“Why?” 

“Why?” Lena turns around, arms folded across her ample chest. “Because I’m not going to slum it with petty _thieves_.” 

“So that’s it then, we’re too low life for the city girl?” Kara pretends to be offended, but she really isn’t. She knows what she is and she’s never shied away from being exactly that. A thief, a robber and an outlaw. “Go on, take your chances out there.” 

“I’ll do just that.” 

Kara snorts, “suit yourself.” 

She’ll be back. 

Hours later, Lena is back to prove Kara right. She doesn’t ask where she found the bow strapped on her back and the knife and sheath strapped to a belt around her waist. Kara thinks Lena is a much better fit for this gang than half the folks they have. 

“Well, well,” Kara is grinning and Lena hates it. “Look who’s back. Miss me?” 

“Wipe that smug look off your face. I’m assuming no one here stays for free.” Lena's holding a dead rabbit, mostly in disgust, offering it to the woman she’s sure is the leader of whatever this gang of thieves calls themselves. 

“She can’t ride but she can hunt.” Kara laughs as she takes the rabbit from Lena’s hands. 

“Where do I sleep?” Lena inquires impatiently. As if she had every right to a bed now that she brought a rabbit that Kara could have hunted herself in five minutes. 

“My bed’s warm if you’re so inclined to repay me for—Ow!” The punch lands her in the exact same spot on her shoulder but she manages to duck under a slap that just barely misses her head this time. “Why do you keep hittin’ me?” Of course, she knows her comment was in poor taste, and yet that didn’t stop her mouth from moving. 

“Why do you keep talking?” 

“See I knew ya could make a joke.” 

Lena rolls her eyes and sighs, exasperated. “Unbelievable.” 

A woman who introduces herself as Lucy comes to the rescue and approaches Lena, leading her away to a wagon near the south side of the clearing. 

Lena, however, watches Kara walk in the opposite direction and hand over the dead animal to a man she hasn’t been introduced to yet. Not that these people would know anything about formal introductions.

“His name is James,” Lucy says as she sets an extra bedroll next to hers. Lena doesn’t complain about having to sleep on the ground, she’s had rougher nights in the several months it’s taken her to get here. “He takes care of the food and the huntin’, for the most part.” 

Lucy fills Lena in on everyone’s names and what their roles are. She finds out the woman Kara had fought with earlier was Alex, her sister and second and command. And that particular behavior was common and not at all antagonistic. 

Lucy then slips in some gossip-worthy information, who hates who’s guts and much to Lena’s dismay, who she’ll most likely hear humping like bunnies at night. 

“And you’ve been with them for long?” Lena questions, on hand behind her head, while she stares at the stars above their heads. Lena was never one to admire nature, but she’s come to grow rather fond of it during her travels. 

“Nearly ten years. They’re like family.” Lucy mirrors Lena’s position as she shifts down on her own bedroll. “We don’t usually take in stragglers. Kara must have seen somethin’ special in you.” 

“Or, also a possibility, she simply wanted to make my life entirely more miserable than it already is.” 

Lucy laughs and Lena immediately thinks she doesn’t dislike the woman’s company and it makes her feel a little better about being surrounded by strange faces. The unfamiliarity of it all almost made her miss her mother. Almost. “They ain’t so bad when to get to know ‘em. Really, they’re a little rowdy is all, but they’re good people.” 

“Good people who steal and break the law.” Lena deadpans. She feels a pang of guilt as soon as the words come out of her mouth. Her husband’s shady deals were far worse, stealing money from deserving folk who work hard for every cent they make and actually need it to survive.

“Maybe so, but there are worse ones out there. And these fine folk right here are willing to protect people like you and me from them. Don’t judge 'em too harshly. Get some rest now, you’ve had a long day.”

Lena doesn’t say anything as she closes her eyes and lets unconsciousness claim her. 

The next morning, Kara offers Lena breakfast and finds that either Lena has become suddenly mute overnight or she refuses to talk to her. “Fine, starve for all I care.” She walks away, kicking dust up on her way over to the makeshift tables where Alex and Maggie are sitting down and eating. “Most pig-headed woman I ever met.” 

“Relax little Danvers,” Maggie says through a mouthful of James’ morning stew, which is exactly the same as his evening stew. When they’re lucky it’s deer, when they’re not it’s squirrel. 

“Do you have a fever of the brain, kid?” Alex berates, poking Kara’s forehead. 

“Quit calling me a kid!” Kara swats her hand away with a frown. “You’re only two years older than I am.” 

“And it sure as shit makes all the difference. You know our rules about strangers.” 

“She was alone!” Kara defends. “No horse, she didn’t know where she was goin’.” 

Alex sighs as she leans forward on the flimsy wooden table, trying to keep her voice down but failing miserably. “I don’t see how that’s our concern. Or why you even care.” 

Lena is suddenly behind Kara, and Alex doesn’t pretend she wants to smile at her. She looks her over with a scowl on her face. 

“Seeing as I can hear you’re arguing about me, I thought I’d join in on the conversation.” Lena sits down next to Kara on the wooden crate that serves as a chair. “I'm going to do my part if that’s what you’re worried about. I can help.” That wasn’t the answer Alex was looking for, Lena understands that she’s worried about her loyalties, about potentially having to deal with Lena running off to the nearest town and sticking the Lawmen on their asses. 

“And what can you do?” Maggie asks, letting the woman beside her cool down. Kara shoots Alex a look, and then Maggie shoots a look back at Kara, and Lena wonders what the hell these people are doing glaring at each other silently like they’re missing parts of their brains. 

“I can’t tell ya what she can’t do, and that’s ride a damn horse,” Kara replies as she shovels food in her mouth as bluntly as she talks to people. 

Maggie doesn’t hide her surprise. “What? Where are ya from?” 

“Go on, tell ‘em,” Kara speaks after a quiet moment as if she’s pressing the woman to tell them a joke. 

The joke being Lena’s life, at this exact moment. “New York state.” 

“What in the hell are you doing all the way out here?!” Alex inquires louder than is necessary and Lena cringes, wishing she would have grabbed herself a cup of coffee before starting this conversation. 

“That’s what I said!” Kara drops her empty plate down and throws her hands up in the air as if she just discovered electricity and is asking for praise. 

Lena rolls her eyes and deflects the personal prodding. “I can make things. Craft whatever you like. I can shoot too.” 

“What’s out there in _New York_ that you had to learn to shoot?” 

Lena doesn’t answer Kara’s question. 

“She can’t ride but she can shoot and hunt,” Kara mumbles about Lena being a _fuckin’ odd woman_ as she sits up and walks away, shaking her head and laughing to herself. Lena thinks maybe Alex was right about the fever comment. 

“Well?” Lena urges impatiently. 

“You can stay.” Alex relaxes and Lena is almost certain she’ll get an apology. What she gets is, well, better than nothing. Which is also an accurate description of her current living arrangements. “Excuse my sister, she can be…” 

“Aggravating?” Lena helpfully offers. 

“She’ll grow on ya,” she smirks, and Lena is irked by the sudden feeling that tells her that Alex knows something she doesn’t. 

“Like mold I’m sure.” 

The two outlaws sitting in front of Lena burst into laughter and Lena is fairly certain she hears Kara loudly swearing somewhere around them.

“We’re keepin’ her around, right?” Lucy sits down where Kara was just sitting, setting a plate in front of Lena as well.

She thanks Lucy hoping that by showing them how actual polite human beings interact with each other it will help their manners somewhat.

It doesn’t. 

And through many questions are directed at her by the women around the table, Lena can’t seem to keep her gaze away from the blonde rider that saved her life. 

_Like mold indeed._

* * *

It’s midday when Kara starts yelling about her gun belt being broken. Lena wordlessly takes it off the woman’s hip and throws it on the work table she made herself. Kara helped to roll the wooden cable spool to the spot Lena wanted it in with a minimal amount of protesting earlier in the day. 

“Woman, what do you think you’re doin’?” She makes no move to stop the hands that grips her hips and unbuckles her belt with quick and precise motions. 

“I have a name,” Lena snarls in response.

“ _Lena_ , what in the hell are you doin’ with my belt?” 

When her name comes out of Kara’s mouth, somehow, she’s even more annoyed. “Fixing it so you’ll shut the hell up about it and perhaps I can finally enjoy my coffee without having to hear you shouting like a damn fool.” 

“Miss Lena,” Kara speaks in a voice that’s unlike her usual raspy drawl, sweet and soft, and Lena’s found something else she hates about the woman. She then lifts a hand to her chest as if she’s actually appalled by Lena’s behavior. “Did you just cuss?” 

Lena works in silence and ignores the heat of Kara's body behind her, who’s peeking over her shoulder and invading her space instead of moving aside and letting her work like a normal person. But Lena relents thinking she’ll find anything normal about these folk.

“There.” She shoves the belt in Kara’s chest and does a pretty good job of not acknowledging the question she was asked earlier. “It should hold up now. Try not to break it again.” 

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Kara is taken aback by how quickly her problem is solved and misses how Lena smiles at her. This time, for the first time, it’s genuine. Until Kara leans forward, grabs her face and plants a kiss on her forehead. She furiously wipes at it and glares at Kara’s retreating back.

Lena begins repairing a lot more equipment over the next few weeks as she settles in quite nicely. Kara comes to her for everything. Her boot’s soles are coming undone so she repairs it with only a light jab about Kara not taking care of her things proper. Then it's her revolver’s holster that’s coming apart and Lena diagnoses the problem: cheap rivets and poor craftsmanship. She also easily manages to find a way to make the bathing area more private and comfortable when she isn’t occupied with the blonde’s seemingly endless requests. 

Kara shoulders her way through the tent where their communal bath is located when it just so happens that Lena is also currently bathing. Her hair is gathered up in a bun and there’s a beer bottle in her hand. Kara isn’t cornering her, but she also kinda is. “So I’ve been thinkin',” she starts, laughing when Lena startles. 

“What the fuck? Haven’t you heard of a thing called _privacy_?” Lena starts swearing more and more. The proper lady etiquette her mother drilled in her head since she was a child quickly forgotten the longer she stays with the people she’s still a little reluctant to call friends. They are, of course, she just absolutely hates it. 

“Is it some kind of wildflower?” Kara takes her hat off and plops down in the wooden chair that creaks in protest. 

Lena glares at the horrible joke and tries to find an excuse to send Kara out. “I’m naked.” She settles on apparently being a prude, which the entire camp knows isn't true seeing as she’s changed in front of them more times in the last fourteen days than she had in front of the man she’s been married to for the last three years. Lena has used her looks to get many things in the past, finding that both men and women are easy to persuade if you have the right assets. 

“So? Ya ain’t got anythin’ I don’t have.” Kara brushes it off and Lena begins to wonder if her usual charm has somehow faded when Kara doesn’t so much as try to peek at her bare chest. “Anyway, as I was sayin’, ya know the homestead we planned on robbin’? Winn got word from his contact that they have some jewelry stashed and maybe even some gold.” 

“But?”

“But they’re locked in safes.”

“And you need me to do what exactly?” Lena pushes herself up in the tub slightly and smirks victoriously when Kara’s eyes zero in on her now visible breasts. Even if it’s dark and the oil lamp only serves to make it so Lena does not trip over anything on her way in or out of the tub, she notices the faint hint of a blush creeping up Kara’s face.

_That oughta teach you to ruin my bathing time._

‘Ruin’ is a harsh word, especially when Lena’s head reels with the way Kara’s usually bright eyes grow darker. Perhaps she enjoys the outlaw’s attention, or perhaps it’s the beer. She settles for a complacent smile when Kara’s eyes eventually meet hers. 

It’s as if Kara sees Lena for the first time. The regal beauty of her silky black hair, sharp jaw, and the expressive green eyes. Kara can’t seem to find the correct words to describe her, and perhaps there aren't any. Her eyes graze the column of the pale neck, then move to the mole in the middle of her throat and dip lower until they land on perked up nipples. “To, uh, m-make a tool we can use to crack it open easy.” 

Stuttering? That’s new coming from the outspoken outlaw. Maybe Lena’s charm is intact after all. “Have you tried dynamite?” She teases with a quirk of her eyebrow that makes Kara narrow her eyes at her.

“Very funny.” Kara leans forward and drips her fingers in the bathwater that smells like lavender and some other type of flower. She sends water splashing in Lena’s face, who retaliates instantly.

When Lena lets out a carefree laugh as they continue to throw water at each other like children, she wonders when exactly she stopped being continuously irritated by the blonde. 

_She did save your life after all. You may actually be an ungrateful shit._

“When do you need it by?” Lena asks but quietly thinks of pulling a fully clothed Kara in the bath as revenge for getting her hair wet. 

“Whenever it’s ready.” 

Lena moves to the other side of the large tub, crossing her arms over the edge and leaning her head down on them. “Give me two days.”

Kara stands in front of her, holding her hat in one hand and resting the other on the holstered revolver hanging off her hip. That’s when Lena wonders if she could get Kara to bathe with her for reasons _other_ than revenge. 

Kara shifts, reacting to the way Lena’s eyes roam over her body like a hungry animal and Lena briefly ponders if mind-reading is even probable. 

It takes Lena eighteen hours to create the tool, very little of those hours were spent sleeping. When Kara, Maggie, and Alex come back to camp it’s with boxes of whiskey and gin and happy grins plastered on their faces. The robbery went without a hitch, well if you don’t count Winn pissing himself when he was held at gunpoint by one of them before Kara shot the guy in the neck. 

Kara yells out to Lena the moment she sees her, clearly already intoxicated. “You’re a genius!” She takes Lena by the waist and lays a big, sloppy and wet kiss on her mouth. All tongue and no tact. 

She stares down into surprised green eyes with a big dopey grin that Lena likes to pretend doesn’t fill her stomach with butterflies. “So you do have _some_ manners.” Not really. Lena wants to say that it’s common practice to ask for permission before kissing someone, but somehow she knows Kara will rave about the joys and wonder of spontaneity.

Kara shrugs and when she brings the bottle of whiskey to her lips she ignores that she’s actually disappointed it isn’t Lena’s mouth. “I may be a good for nothing thief, but I know how to treat a lady.” She winks and it’s not subtle. She wants to offer Lena her bed again but then the woman says something completely insane before she can embarrass herself. 

“Take me with you next time.” 

It’s crazy, so naturally, Kara agrees with it almost instantly. “If you think you’re ready.” She shrugs noncommittally. 

Lena smiles and steals the bottle from Kara’s hand as it’s being lifted to her lips once more. Lena promptly ignores the glare she receives. “I’m ready.” 

Festivities continue for the rest of the night, Alex breaks out the guitar and Lena even enjoys herself despite spending the entire night silently denying that feeling Kara’s lips on hers didn’t ignite something in her. 

And it’s not because she now trusts these people, she tells herself, that she sings along with them. Or that she enjoys their company when she lays her head on Kara’s shoulder when they sit by the fire. It’s the feeling of finally coming home that scares her more than it should when Kara, in her drunken stupor, throws her arm haphazardly over Lena’s shoulder and pulls her closer under the pretense that she _might_ be cold. 

Somehow the blue eyes seem so much brighter. The face she’s become accustomed to is strikingly handsome as if the thought had only just now hit her and Lena can’t look away. 

Alex notices but doesn’t say anything. 

Perhaps it’s the whiskey, Lena ponders as a slow smile crawls up her lips. Or perhaps it’s just fate. 


	2. Catch Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where they get shit-faced at a saloon and Lena finally gets a horse. There may also be a race in there somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that the fic is now tagged with 'mentions of sexual assault' and 'mentions of domestic abuse'. It comes up in this chapter, but it's only brief mentions. Blood and violence in this chapter, and from here on out. 
> 
> With that said, I was not expecting this kind of positive response from writing this AU. It was literally a dumb idea I had when walking to a friend about our RDR2 playthrough and well, I'm really glad y'all have enjoyed it this much. I hope this second chapter is to your liking as well. Thank you to everyone that left a little something, whether it was a comment or a kudos <3 I appreciate it very much.

###  **CHAPTER 2: CATCH FIRE**

**_Louisiana, Baton Rouge, Blue Moon Saloon._ **

**_May 28th, 1899._ **

They ride into the heavily populated city with the intention of getting Lena a horse and more appropriate clothing for such ventures, but they are easily swayed by Alex to rest at the saloon. ‘Just for a few drinks’, she said, pulling them inside. All plans are forgotten when they shoot whiskey until not one of them can form coherent thoughts. 

It’s loud and it reeks of cigars and beer. Kara thrives and Lena is faring much better than usual amongst the rowdy and easily excitable patrons. She likes to think the woman beside her has something to do with it. It’s a fine establishment in the better part of the city where the wealthy come to unwind and get a little rowdy. They don’t stick out too much. Well, Lena doesn’t, looking as baroque as every other heavily intoxicated woman here.

They’re at the counter, Kara is slouched forward on the dark oak wood surface and the whiskey-filled shot glass is close to her mouth when some fool makes a rather lacklustre attempt at flirting with Lena. It’s not jealousy, she tells herself, when she turns to the sharply-dressed man with a wry grin and says: “Boy, the lady is way too pretty for the likes of you. Hell, too pretty for me too.” He scoffs, prepared to challenge the comment, but when Lena leans closer to Kara and throws her head back in laughter he gets the message. 

Lena pushes herself closer still, placing her hand on a muscular shoulder to whisper something in Kara’s ear. When Lena turns to down her own shot, she can’t believe the words that made the outlaw sputter her whiskey like it was her first were ‘that's not true.’

As a way to hide her embarrassment and to avoid the bartender’s glare as he furiously wipes the counter in front of her, Kara finds her sister and Maggie sitting at a Blackjack table. When a soft hand covers her forearm she turns back to Lena with a smile. “Somethin’ the matter?” 

“Of course not, darling.” Lena smiles, big and bright and Kara fights off the urge to kiss the woman right then and there. “Another drink?” 

Kara nods and Lena keeps her hand on her arm as if she needed to steady herself, but considering she’s half leaning over the counter to grab the bartender’s attention, it was completely unnecessary. “Two more over here, please.” 

Lena’s been riding with the Danvers gang for a little over a month now, and Kara has the odd feeling like she’s known the woman for ages. They still bicker, of course, purposefully getting the other angry just for kicks, but they share companionable laughter more often than not and even sit in silence from time to time. Enjoying each other’s company and whatnot.

It’s nice and easy and Alex warned her about it but Kara paid her no mind. Why would she? She’s gotten to know how truly brilliant Lena is and Kara’s hungry to learn more about her. Lena’s been pretty reserved about the life she led before Kara found her and she didn’t mind one bit, it’s not like Kara was spilling all of her deep and dark secrets to the woman in return. Yet, a part of her is becoming increasingly curious about what the natural troublemaker would do back in New York.

Troublemaker was the nickname Lena was given amongst the folk at camp, but Kara prefers to use shitkicker instead. Lena absolutely hates it and she’s instantly validated whenever Lena’s lip turns up in disgust at the crass term. 

‘Come on shitkicker, we got ourselves a train full of rich assholes to rob,’ she would say, all too happy with herself. Lena would respond with a scoff and shove, but she’d do so with a smile that never failed to light up Kara’s world. So, in retrospect, it was well worth it. 

Lena slides another shot towards Kara and they clink the glasses together with practiced ease before they both chug it down like it’s mere water and not hard liquor.

Lena chuckles once the warm and bitter liquid hits the back of her throat and she watches a tantalizing drop escape the corner of Kara’s mouth. Without thinking, not that she could do so at the moment, she swipes it with her thumb and the darkened blue eyes that stare back at her are deeply challenging. Lena accepts the silent duel as her tongue darts out to lick the whiskey off of her thumb without breaking eye contact with Kara. Suddenly there’s no one but them in the crowded room and Kara moves half behind her, placing a protective arm around Lena’s back but letting her bare hand rest on the bar instead of Lena’s hip.

She leans into her warmth, thinking back to how pleasantly surprised Lena was when she discovered Kara was much smarter than she let on after spending a fair amount of time with the other woman. They didn’t bother hiding their obvious attraction to one another and the gang wasn’t shy about calling them out every chance they got. A fair trade, Lena thinks. 

When Lena moves her head, Kara leans forward as if to kiss her but she stops her with a hand firmly pressed into her chest. It’s not that she didn’t want to feel those incredibly soft lips on hers again, but Lena wasn’t sure she was ready to dive in just yet. 

She spent most of her life being molded into someone she was not simply to satisfy what was expected of her. And now that she truly tasted what freedom is, discovering who she was and what she wanted, she didn’t think she was ready to give herself to someone. Even if that someone was gentle and caring once she managed to waddle her way through the tough exterior. Kara’s shell was hardened by the harsh life she’s led for years, and whether it was by choice or not Lena was still unsure. 

Even if she’s beyond attracted to the outlaw, more than just physically, this is the first time she’s been _allowed_ to pursue a relationship on her own accord. Lena fully intends to savor every moment of it even if that means taking it painstakingly slow. 

“Where's the fire?” Lena asks, her lips brushing against Kara’s jaw. She stares at Lena with her usual smug grin and though she very much finds it unbearably irritating still, she’s also grown rather fond of it.

Kara takes Lena’s hand in hers when they receive the beers she paid for and leads her to a poker table at the far corner of the saloon. She’s tipping her hat at the folks there in greeting and takes a seat to join the game in progress. 

Lena stands behind her, hand on her shoulder as she quietly drinks and observes the way each of them plays. She rolls her eyes at every wrong move Kara makes, growing tired of it after she loses her fifth hand in a row. 

“You’re terrible at cards.” She says in mere observation.

Kara pushes the brim of her hat up with her index as she turns around, eyes narrowed dangerously. “You think you can do any better then?”

“Well, I can’t be worse.” Instead of taking the offered seat beside Kara, Lena sits herself down directly in the woman’s lap. Lena had played many poker games, wiping high stakes tables clean like she had been born to do so. The way these men were playing wouldn’t prove to be much of a challenge, but she did enjoy the thrill of the game after all and she was in good spirits. 

Kara startles, only for a second though. “Sure, make yourself at home. Use me as a chair why don’t ya.” The envious stares she receives from the men around the table is more than worth it, though.

Lena doesn’t answer as she peaks at the two cards that were dealt to her by the gentlemen with the large mutton chops sitting across from her. And when Kara lights herself a cigarette, Lena plucks it from her hands and takes a drag from it.

“Really?”

She leans back against Kara’s chest and pats her cheek in such a deeply condescending manner it makes Kara want to yell at her and kiss her at the same time. A conundrum of epic proportions. 

Kara settles on lighting herself another cigarette and somehow she knows Lena is smiling smugly at her cards and _it sure as shit ain’t ‘cause of the ace that's in her hand_. She hates it. 

Nonetheless, she drops her hand on Lena’s thigh and almost pulls back when the woman tenses at the touch. But Lena’s hand gently covers her own a few seconds later. It’s a simple gesture but it says a lot, and Kara understands every single word not spoken. When she peaks at the table over Lena’s shoulder, she finds that her little shitkicker won the hand worth a couple of bills. Two pairs, aces and tens. 

“You’re gonna have to teach me that,” Kara asks when Lena throws her small blind into the pot when the man seated to her right takes his turn to deal.

Green eyes survey the two cards in her hands with a practiced neutral expression. “Once you teach me how to ride.” She smiles at her own words and if the other players think it’s because she has a good hand she doesn’t try to tell them otherwise. The three and the five of hearts she actually has could make her some money if the bluff works. 

“Tomorrow.” Kara drawls against Lena’s ear and the grin on her lips is only there because of the goosebumps Kara notices appearing on the length of Lena’s neck.

“Checking again, good sir?” Lena raises another two dollars. She’s almost certain he has nothing and she wants to see how far he’ll go before he folds. “You said that yesterday.” 

“We got a little turned around.” Kara winces when one of the men, the one with the large beard and even bigger groomed mustache, plays into Lena’s ruse and raises her five dollars, which she matches. One of the players folds with a shake of his head.

“It looks like it’s you and me again, Mister Cornwall.” She throws two more chips in the pile and so does he. She’ll squeeze every cent she can from him. “Blame your sister.” She tells Kara as the man replies to her.

“I do believe you’ve been a formidable opponent this evening, Miss. Let’s see what you have.”

“Ya have to admit it’s been fun,” Kara’s words are directed at Lena and so is her goofy grin. 

The table grows loud with surprise and congratulations when Lena turns her cards to reveal she’s won the hundred dollar pot with a straight flush. Maybe the hand composed of a three and five of hearts wasn’t so bad after all. Luck may very well be on her side tonight. 

“It has.” She agrees. It was nice to get out of the wilderness and step into civilization again. Baton Rouge is not New York by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s cobblestone-paved streets are bustling with activity and its architecture is also incredibly beautiful and sophisticated. 

The main streets are fairly large, one incoming lane and one ongoing lane on either side of it with tramway tracks in the middle. It reminded her of the home she deserted without looking back, and when Kara lightly squeezes her hip and informs her that the game is over, regret is far from her mind. 

“Your lady friend has many talents, Miss Danvers.” The fellow compliments.

“That she does.” Kara grins proudly and she feels Lena’s eyes on her.

“Well, I certainly wish you would have played instead of her.”

“I don’t,” Kara laughs and Lena sits up to free Kara, but not before she plucks the hat on her head and places it over her dark hair. 

“I’ll get us some beers,” Kara calls out to her over the loud piano keys being pounded into oblivion as it appears that the musician is also quite intoxicated. Kara’s not entirely sure she even heard her when Lena excuses herself from the poker table and joins Maggie at a table littered with empty bottles and glasses. 

From the bar, Alex watches the exchange with a quirked eyebrow and she can’t believe what she witnesses. Her sister approaches her, without her hat mind you. A hat she has an odd attachment too. A hat she’s never let anyone touch, much less wear. 

“Enjoyin’ yourself?” Kara greets and goes to tip her hat but frowns adorably when she finds it missing. For a moment she panics, but she quickly remembers that it’s being lovingly kept warm on Lena’s head.

“This was a great idea.” Alex is priggish when she speaks, cradling two beer bottles and the same number of shot glasses between her fingers.

Kara snorts, eyes rolling in both irritation and fondness for her sister. “You’re only sayin’ that cause it was yours.” 

“It don't make it any less true.” Alex winks and Kara snorts again. Alex stops herself from asking her sister if she’s a horse with all the sounds she’s making at her. 

“This round’s on me,” Kara tosses the bartender a bill that covers the four shots she just bought and more. She tells him to keep the change as she precariously clutches the glasses in usually steady hands. 

“Careful, you’re fallin’ Kara.” Alex isn’t talking about literal falling. Not the kind that would break her face. The kind that could potentially break her heart.

“My feet are still on the ground.” 

“Dumbass,” Alex mutters to herself when Kara taps her boots on the floorboards and laughs so loud she spills half the shots over herself. 

They join their companion with minimal spillage, speaking strictly from Alex’s perspective, and once the shots are consumed the rest of the already eventful evening becomes a hazy blur. 

Much later in the night, or rather, early into the next day, Kara and Lena stumble their way up the stairs together. They concentrate real hard on walking straight in an attempt to reach their room without any new injuries.

They fall, and maybe it’s halfway there or maybe it’s on the very first step, neither one of them really knows. They dissolve into fits laughter when Kara somehow lands on top and Lena holds onto Kara as if it would stop her head from spinning uncontrollably. 

They somehow make it into the room that is lavishly decorated and spacious. Kara locks the door, wedging a chair underneath the handle out of habit more than anything else. She misses the odd look Lena gives her when she sheds off her vest and gun belt, throwing them on that same chair. 

“Are you afraid we’ll get robbed?” Lena covers her mouth with her hand to muffle the embarrassing giggle she lets out. 

“Ya never know what kinda crazies there is ‘round here,” Kara says with an unfocused gaze as she walks forward precariously like it’s the floor that’s moving and not her head that’s spinning.

“I happen to know at least and two and they’re right here in this room.” 

That’s when Kara notices Lena’s accent. It seems to come out and becomes more prominent the more alcohol she consumes. “You think you’re so funny, don’t ya?” 

“I know I am.” Lena spins around slowly, very slowly. She feels Kara’s hands on her arms steadying her and while she’s there, she asks: “Untie me, will you?” 

Kara mumbles, frustrated by the laces and her very uncooperative hands. “What the hell...why do they make these damn things so complicated to take off? We’re getting you some pants in the mornin’.”

“Need help?” Lena laughs when she hears Kara’s boots scuffling on the wooden floorboards every time she stumbles back and forth behind her. Lena holds onto the nightstand beside the bed to keep her balance as well, fearing they wouldn’t be able to stand up if they’d go falling over again. 

“Shush now, I got this.” Kara slurs and curses some more. 

“Are you quite certain you’re alright?” Lena teases, purposely moving forward and chuckling when she hears a frustrated groan behind her. 

“It’s comin’ off. _Any_ second now.” 

Kara’s voice is even more hoarse now, throaty and scratchy from all the cigarettes and whiskey she consumed and it’s making Lena’s skin tingle. “You know, if you were to bed me I would be growing rather impatient.” 

“If I was to bed you, I would have—this is the devil’s work!” Kara suddenly shouts when the strings somehow knot together around her fingers. “There we go. Thank Jesus!” She finally claims victory over the corset as she chucks it across the room like it’s a dirty rag.

“You conquered the corset. Congratulations to you.” Lena watches, with some horror but mostly amusement, as Kara faceplants on the bed.

“Thank you,” Kara mumbles, her face pressed in the soft sheets. 

Lena’s fairly certain that’s the first time she’s heard the woman say ‘thank you’ but she won’t remember in the morning. “Take your boots off before you get mud on the bed.”

“Do you ever stop naggin’?” Kara groans and it sounds like a wild animal having the worst day of its life. 

“Turn,” Lena repeats, growing more impatient. 

“What?” 

“I said move your butt,” Lena giggles again as she tugs on Kara’s clothes, but she’s unsuccessful at moving the woman around herself. “And get on your back.” 

Finally, Kara does as she’s told and Lena bends down to pull off the worn leather boots. She stumbles backward and laughter wins the precarious battle against balance as she topples over, landing on her ass.

They finally make it on the bed and even remember to take the covers off before settling in. The bed is large enough to accommodate at least two other full-sized adults, but somehow both women are almost pressed against each other in the middle of the mattress. 

Lena turns on her side, her back to Kara and the woman’s breath tickles her bare shoulder. She reaches behind her for Kara’s hand and drapes it over her stomach, immediately thinking it might have been a mistake considering the amount of heat it radiates against the thin cloth of her nightgown. 

“You smell nice.” Kara scoots closer, pressing her front to Lena’s backside firmly. 

Lena hums low in her throat, threading her fingers through Kara’s. “You smell like cigarettes and whiskey.” It was meant to be an insult, but it comes off far more fondly than she intended it to.

“So do you.”

When Kara wraps her arm around Lena’s waist securely, a sense of peace and security washes over her and this time she can’t find it in her to blame the whiskey. 

* * *

The next day when they’ve had some food, which Kara threw up almost instantly, Lena finds herself at the tailor while Alex and Maggie are doing whatever the hell It is Alex and Maggie do, and Kara’s standing outside of the saloon. She’s brushing her Kentucky Saddler, getting all the mud and dirt off of her coat with small and languid strokes.

The sun is beating down on her and she’s already sweating the alcohol they drank and half the day is already gone seeing as they slept like the dead. Alex practically kicked their door down to wake them and Kara is still embarrassed by how she tumbled out of bed in her haste to grab her revolver as if they were under attack. Lena and Alex didn’t miss the chance to mock her for it.

“Good afternoon to ya, fighter.” 

A familiar voice breaks Kara from her thoughts. She frowns at the nickname when she turns to stare at her friend with questioning eyes. “Fighter? The hell you talkin’ about John?”

“I keep hearin’ from folks that the Danvers sisters had quite the eventful night.” The man is wearing a white overshirt that’s seen better days, the pale color of the cotton contrasts heavily with his dark skin. His work pants are beige and just as worn in and used as his shirt. 

Kara pales and feels her stomach protesting at the mention of last night. “I don’t remember much.” The poker game is the last memory that’s clear in Kara’s mind and she grows fearful of what they could have done that has people going around town talking about them.

“I’ll let you figure it out on your own.” He chuckles and clamps a large hand down onto her shoulder, grinning when she groans at the sudden movement. “The horse you asked for is ready. Ya know where to find me.”

She grumbles something that sounds like a goodbye, tipping her hat in a manner that’s so lazy it looks like she forgot what she was doing mid-movement, which only makes John laugh louder as he leaves her alone in her misery.

Eventually, Lena meets back with her and the sight of her new accouterment causes Kara’s brain to stop working entirely. 

Her hair is tied in a French braid as usual, but it all comes together with the red coat decorated with gold buttons, the inside of the lapels are black and match her riding boots. Kara can also see a white dress shirt peeking from underneath the coat and the black vest, disappearing under dark trousers. The first couple of buttons of her shirt are undone and gives anyone a glimpse of the ample cleavage hiding underneath. 

“Well look at you.” Kara drawls, unable to rip her eyes away from the woman who appears uncomfortable in her new garments. 

“I feel like I’m...dressed down.” Lena finally says, her voice uncharacteristically shy and Kara practically melts at the sound alone. 

“Trust me, ya ain’t.” _I ain’t ever seen a woman as beautiful as you_ , she wants to say but holds her tongue in fear of making Lena even more uncomfortable than she already is.

Their gaze meet and the appreciative look in Kara’s cobalt eyes gives her a renewed sense of confidence. Lena approaches her with a secretive smile, both of her hands hidden behind her back. “I have something for you.” She presents a simple black gambler hat, the brim curved just like Kara likes it. There's a single leather strap with a silver buckle decorating it.

Kara pouts and she doesn’t bother hiding it this time. “I like my hat.” 

Lena resists the urge to slap said hat off of the woman’s head. “It’s old _and_ falling apart.” 

“It’s comfortable,” Kara adds quickly, but she already knows she lost the battle. Why she even bothers fighting Lena is a great mystery indeed. 

“It stinks,” Lena reasons. She would know as she spent the better part of the night wearing it. Even if she took a bath this morning she’s quite certain the smell of worn leather still lingers. “Just try it on, please?”

“Fine.” Kara replaces the hat on her head with the item of much better quality and when she moves it around she finds that it's a perfect fit. “How do I look?”

Lena steps forward, teasingly pulling the front of the brim down over Kara’s eyes. She grumbles and it’s annoyingly adorable. “Very handsome.” She admits with a grin, her eyes snapping down to Kara’s mouth as the woman shifts forward and smiles a smile that could light up even the darkest nights. However, a rather unpleasant smell breaks the intimate moment. “Your horse is...” 

“Taking a shit? That she is.” Kara chuckles as she pats the animal’s neck earnestly regardless of its untimely bowel movement. The horse sighs through its nose and leans into the touch. “You ain’t helpin’ me out here, girl.”

“You do realize you’re talking to your horse.” Lena looks equal parts perplexed and smitten. 

“Thumper the second ain’t just a horse. She’s my friend.” 

Lena arches a perfect brow, watching as Kara mounts the beast in question. “Your friend?”

“We go everywhere together.”

Lena thinks for a moment, her lips drawing in a thin line. “You’re very odd.” 

“I could say the same about you.” Kara quips with a wink and extends her hand towards Lena.

Lena takes Kara’s gloved hand and throws her leg over the saddle, properly positioning herself behind her. At that very moment, Lena comes to the realization that pants offer much more room to move without restrictions and she understands why Kara is so adamant about wearing them. “Why the second? What happened to the first?”

“Well,” Kara shifts in the saddle, disappointed that she wouldn’t get to feel Lena pressed against her back like this much longer, and she feels entirely stupid for thinking such a thing. “That’s a story for another time. We’re meetin’ John at the stables. He saddled up your horse.” 

“Wonderful.” Lena was excited to have her own horse, a little nervous about riding alone, and more than discontented she wasn’t going to be able to ride with Kara anymore. 

“Since we got time, let’s talk names.” Naming a horse was serious business, especially since Kara knows it's her first. 

Lena groans in annoyance but grips Kara’s waist tighter as they start moving across the street, the metal horseshoes clanking rhythmically against the cobblestone underneath its hooves. “Must we?”

Kara turns her head to lock eyes with the woman seated behind her, a brilliant toothy grin on her lips. “We must, my lady.”

Lena narrows her eyes at her, yet the proximity of Kara’s lips to hers makes it a bit challenging to stay mad at her. Regardless, she grabs Kara’s chin and pushes her face away from hers. “Please look where you’re steering that horse.”

“Your wishes are my command.” 

Lena groans. “God, you truly are unbearable.” 

Kara lets out a joyful laugh and they spend a part of the ride in silence. Until Kara breaks it with a suggestion for Lena’s horse.

“Humpy?”

“Absolutely not.” 

“Grumpy?” _Yeah, much more fittin_ ’, she thinks.

“Kara,” Lena warns, lightly pinching the woman’s ribs through her vest.

Kara’s grin grows wider when she pulls on the reins to stop Thumper to let a stagecoach cross in front of them. She exchanges greetings with the folk and shifts in the saddle once more, shooting Lena a glance over her shoulder. “Shitter, then?”

Lena snorts, “That would be yours, Danvers.”

Thumper huffs loudly and Kara gives the horse’s neck a few good pats. “Hear that? She’s laughin’ at you, girl.”

“Please stop speaking to your horse like it’s a person.” It would be a plea if Lena found the way Kara deeply cares for the animal _actually_ annoying. It’s sweet, but she wasn’t going to tell her that lest Kara gives her that shit-eating grin again. Once a day is enough, and Lena was victim to it twice today which meant she was well over her quota of Danvers smugness.

“You’ll get it soon enough.” Kara correctly predicts, but Lena doesn’t know that yet. 

She rolls her eyes and leans into Kara’s back once they start moving again. “I doubt it.” 

* * *

**_Mississippi, somewhere outside of Brookhaven._ **

**_June 15th, 1899._**

“What is the one fuckin’ rule I told y’all about when we started this?” Kara’s yelling now, and her tone is harsh and cold. It’s been a while since they’ve seen Kara properly angry and right now all of it was directed at a cowering Mikey. “Come on, let me hear you say it.”

The man’s eyes search for sympathy in his friend’s face and it’s swiftly replaced with resentment when he finds none. “We don’t kill the defenseless folk we rob.” 

“And what did your dumb fuckin’ ass do?” She steps towards him, every word shouted louder than the one before. The entire camp hears them now, most of them are gathered around Kara’s tent as they watch this unfold with unease. 

Alex is closeby, her body rigid as she readies herself to jump in if Kara fails to reel her anger in, which is something Alex has seen too many times to count. She loses her cool, says or does something she regrets and they don’t see her for a few days.

It hasn’t happened in the past two months, which is coincidentally the exact amount of time Lena has been with the gang. Alex knows it’s not a coincidence. There’s something about her that soothes Kara in ways Alex has never seen before. It should be a good thing, Alex thinks, but it only makes her worry that much more.

“It was an honest mistake, Kara, I swear it! I thought he was gettin’ a gun out of his coat and—“

Kara lunges forward, her knuckles connecting with Mikey’s face with a harsh crunch that makes everyone around them recoil. “Shut your damn mouth!”

Alex runs to his side in an instant, kneeling down next to him while his nose spurts out blood like it has an unlimited supply of it. It drips between his fingers and seeps through his cotton shirt. “Jesus Kara, you broke his nose.” 

“It’s better than bein’ dead ain’t it?” Kara’s throat is raw from yelling, but it doesn’t deter her from continuing. Every time her darkened eyes catch Mikey’s gaze, images of ripping his throat out with her bare hands assault her mind. “Stupid fuck!” Each word is punctuated with a kick in his side.

“I said, that’s enough!” Alex moves in front of the man protectively. He might have made a mistake tonight, but that didn’t mean he deserved to be beaten to death for it.

Kara turns to her sister and her worsening state of mind tempers somewhat. Still, she speaks through clenched teeth and Alex notices the wild look in her eyes and for the first time, it actually scares her. “You know damn well what’s gonna happen if the law gets wind of this. If there’s a witness.” 

“Maggie was with him, they cleaned up the place. No one else was around.” She stands up carefully. “Ain’t no one gonna find out about this. Now you need to calm the hell down.” Alex feels like she’s trying to calm down a spooked horse, taking slow steps towards her sister with her hands raised halfway-up submissively. 

“What in the world is going on?” Lena inquires, walking out of her tent to see Maggie holding Kara back, Mikey’s face covered in blood and the entire camp standing in a half-circle around them 

“Danvers is off her rocker again.” Mikey’s voice is muffled as his hand still covers his nose. Lucy brings him a rag and inspects the damage with a hiss as she dabs the area around the bone that’s painfully out of place.

Kara growls as Maggie pushes at her chest roughly, and much to Kara’s annoyance, the smaller woman is stronger than she appears. “You best shut your mouth boy, before I do more than just break ya nose.” 

Lena places a hand on Maggie’s shoulder, silently requesting that she let her deal with this. Kara’s chest is heaving, her breaths coming out through clenched teeth and she looks about ready to blow. 

She should be scared, Lena’s seen this look in her husband’s face more often than not just before he would punch her, or slam her head against a wall. But then Kara peers down at her, eyes searching, and when they find hers the softness that’s usually there returns.

With a small smile, Lena reaches out and takes both of Kara’s trembling hands in hers, smoothing her thumbs over the knuckles gently until Kara’s shoulders visibly relax. “Tell me what happened.” She coaxes softly.

Kara nods, her eyes unable to meet any of those around them. She feels like she’s suffocating and needs to get away from all their worried stares. “Let’s take a walk.” 

If anyone is stunned at how easily Lena defuses the situation, they certainly don’t speak up.

“You forgettin’ somethin’?” Maggie nods her head towards Mikey. 

Kara finds James in the crowd, standing beside Lucy. “Don’t feed him for the next month. If he wants to eat, he can hunt it his damn self.” Her gaze falls on Alex, and she winces at the look her sister gives her. “And no more robberies. For now.” 

Lena leads Kara away, they take a small trail that leads in the thick forest behind the camp. It’s dark out but the sky is cloudless and the full moon is shining down on them. “What did Mikey do to deserve that?”

“Killed a man he was robbin’.” Kara sighs and readjusts the gambler hat. It’s more a nervous gesture than anything else. 

“I see.” 

“Listen,” Kara halts her movement and turns to face Lena fully. “I know ya don’t think much of us and what we do, but I have rules. And I expect everyone here to follow ‘em.” 

“Oh? And what are those rules?” Lena figures that she wasn’t made aware of them seeing as she has yet to participate in anything illegal. Well except that one time she helped them stop a train they then robbed. 

“We don’t kill for the sake of it. We don’t draw our guns unless they do it first, and we don’t shoot defenseless folk.” 

“Smart rules.” But that didn’t surprise Lena, Kara was a smart woman when she didn’t let her short temper get the better of her. 

“And they would work too if _everyone_ would follow ‘em.” They couldn’t let themselves become what they’re fighting against. Kara wouldn’t let them become mindless killers and robbers which is why punishment for disobedience had to be harsh, she reasons. 

Sure, breaking Mikey’s nose had not been her intention at first and it wasn’t how she usually did things. But the man has a way of getting under her skin, and the moment he opened his mouth to explain himself she snapped...and so did his nose. 

“I suppose that’s the risk you take doing what you do.” Was Lena ready to take such risks? She remembers telling Kara she was, but perhaps she needs to think about it further.

Kara starts pacing back and forth like a madwoman and Lena raises an eyebrow at her. “There sure as hell would be fewer risks if Mikey wasn’t so damn trigger happy all the fuckin’ time.” 

Lena senses the anxiousness coming back as Kara’s shoulders tense up, her eyes losing that softness she’s grown to admire. “I think you might need to bathe.”

“The hell?” Kara’s brow furrows as she stops to fist the front of her shirt, bringing it up to her nose to give it a good sniff. “Do I smell or somethin’?”

“To relax, you fool.” Lena reaches forward to grab Kara’s hand in hers and tugs on it. “Come on, I’ll warm up the water for you.” 

“Uh, okay.” Kara willingly follows Lena, as if there was ever a day or time that she wouldn’t. 

Later, Lena is sitting on the edge of the tub with the sleeves of her shirt rolled up. It’s uncomfortable and the metal digs into her ass but still, she focuses on working her fingers into the tense and rigid muscles on Kara’s neck and shoulders. 

Kara leans forward, dropping her head with a groan. No one’s ever done something like this for her, or ever cared about her well being in the way that this woman, who was still basically a stranger, did. 

Her affection for Lena was growing every day and she was powerless to stop it. Not that she ever intended too. “Lena, I—“ 

And that’s when Alex barges in. Her eyes jump from Kara to Lena and she clenches her jaw. “We need more baths.” It’s short and to the point and conveys everything Alex feels at this moment. 

Kara chuckles and both Alex and Lena instinctively smile at the sound. “Ya know where the wagon is, don’t ya? Ride to town, and buy one yourself. It ain’t that hard.” 

“I’m gettin’ real tired of walkin’ in on you two doin’ weird shit.” She further explains through clenched teeth. Sure, she loved having Lena around just as much as everyone else. But having to witness her _sister_ and Lena slowly court each other in her proximity was slowly hacking away at her patience, and quite frankly, her sanity too. 

“Then get the hell out of here!” Kara chucks her boot at Alex but she easily dodges it. Not that it was meant to actually hit her target. 

“Sisters.” Kara sighs when Alex ducks out of the tent laughing. 

“I have a brother,” Lena admits once her hands start moving her Kara’s shoulders again. 

“Yeah?” Kara turns to stare at the woman’s usually pale complexion glowing orange from the lantern illuminating the tent. There’s a definite hit of vulnerability in her green eyes and Kara hopes she can convey reassurance with her soft tone. “Tell me about him.”

And she does. But first, they decide to switch locations because Lena’s backside and left leg are starting to go numb and it’s rather unpleasant. 

* * *

“And where are you headed this fine morning, Miss Danvers?” Lena approaches the row of hitching posts and her gaze lands on Kara, who’s already settled in Thumper’s saddle. It was warm today, more humid than usual, and it would get worse in the coming months. So, Lena left her coat in her tent. 

“Scoutin’ other campin’ grounds.” She answers with a bright smile, a far cry from the sour mood she’d been in for the past few days. Then again, seeing Lena always improves her mood considerably. 

“Are you looking for some company?” Lena is already removing her horse’s reins from the wooden post before Kara answers. 

“I always want your company,” Kara admits with a wink and waits for Lena, taking a few moments to let her eyes roam the curves of the woman’s body while she lifts herself into her horse’s saddle. When Lena meets her gaze and quirks an eyebrow at her, Kara finds that she’s unashamed. Lena was already a gorgeous woman, but tailored trousers and dress shirts clung to her body in delicious ways a puffy dress never could. 

Lena’s Tennessee Walker was aptly named Bear after much consideration and a long back and forth conversation with Kara. His coat is a dark brown color and his mane is as black as her hair. He’s about as big as Kara’s horse and just as brawny. 

Once settled, Lena gives the animal a few loving pats in greeting. “She’s a _real_ charmer, isn’t she?” 

“Miss Lena,” Kara dramatizes and presses her hand to her chest. “Are ya talkin’ to your horse?”

“Oh, shut up.” She rolls her eyes and refuses to acknowledge that Kara was right once again.

“Told ya.” Kara clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth and Thumper starts trotting forward. 

Lena follows suit and once they’re out of the small trail that leads back to camp, they ride in a canter out on the main roads. 

“I take it we’re going to be moving, then?” The rhythmic sound of their horse’s hooves hitting the ground is loud enough that they have to raise their voices to hear each other. 

“Yeah. We move around every three or four months. With Mikey actin’ a fool I figured it’d be best to do it sooner rather than later.” Kara slows down a bit so she’s riding right alongside Lena and Bear. Lena found the name herself, but Kara takes credit for teaching her the importance of bonding with her horse. 

“I’d imagine they don’t like that idea very much.” Not having a place to call home can get exhausting. Speaking from her experience, she can make a case on how being stationery can be just as taxing mentally. 

“They’ll get over it. Besides, bein’ on the road most of my life I realized that home ain’t always a place. Sometimes it’s the people you’re with.”

“That’s...a really beautiful sentiment Kara.” What she said rings true to Lena. The family she had never brought her happiness, only grief and shackles she’s still trying to shake off. Leaving hadn’t been that hard since Lena never considered it her _home_. It wasn’t where she belonged.

“Yeah, Yeah.” Kara brushes the compliment off fearing that it would turn the conversation overly emotional. What a frightening thought that was. “What about you?” Kara asks after a very short moment of silence. 

“What about me?” Lena demands carefully. She didn’t want to be secretive with Kara, or the rest of the gang for that matter, but there are things that were better left unknown. For their sake and her own. It didn’t matter anyway, Lena decides, it’s not like there was a chance her mother and husband could find Lena across the five states she crossed on her own.

“Your home. What’s it like?”

“Busy And noisy. My father owned several businesses in New York. We didn’t move around much.” The big city was the exact opposite of how she was living now and she much preferred the quiet and peaceful sounds of nature to the crowded and busy streets of New York.

“You miss it?”

“Not particularly.” 

Kara’s eyes widen at the honest admission, then her brow furrows. “You’re tellin’ me you’d rather live it rough out in the wilderness with us when you’re used to having a roof over your head and anythin’ money can buy?” Kara is given another piece of the puzzle that is Lena, finding every tidbit of information more interesting than the next. 

“It’s like you said, home isn’t necessarily a place.” _And I would take you over all the money in the world, darling._

A smile stretches across Kara’s face, it’s lazy, but it reaches her eyes and makes the area around them crinkle. She stares at Lena with her eyes as blue as the ocean and Lena briefly notices how the harsh sun brings out the freckles on her nose and cheeks. She’s never been so certain of something in her life. This is where she belongs.

They don’t find anything in the surrounding area and half their day has been wasted on running around like fools accomplishing absolutely nothing. The only good thing about this, Kara thinks, is the time she got to spend with Lena. 

When they take a break to stretch their legs, Kara pulls out a map and points to an area situated between Lafayette and Lakes Charles. It would be quite the daring move and a much longer ride with the wagons, but it was a large forested area and easy to defend considering they would have the gulf for Mexico at their backs.

They didn’t need to move that far West in one go, they could very well move along the coastline little by little until they reached that area. Kara would have to talk to Alex about it, but moving towards Texas was the smarter option in her opinion. 

Lena didn’t mind, the bigger the distance there was between her and New York the better. And the prospect of visiting Mexico and the surrounding area more than satisfied her curious nature. 

“How comfortable are ya on that saddle?” Kara asks suddenly, nodding her head at Lena. They’re both walking on the road at a leisurely pace.

Lena hears the challenge in the outlaw’s tone, and she can’t help the curl of her lips in response. “Why do you ask?”

“How about we race back to camp? It ain’t far from here now.”

Lena surveys the area, and much to her surprise she finds that she recognizes the endless planes and dirt roads curving around the hills. “And what would I get if I were to win?”

“Well, _if_ you were to win, then I’d say...a kiss.” 

“Oh how scandalous,” Lena widens her eyes in mock surprise while raising her voice a few octaves and it’s well worth the effort when Kara snorts a laugh that is entirely too adorable. “And who would I get the privilege of kissing?” She knew the answer, but never one to disappoint, she plays along.

“I dunno,” Kara shrugs nonchalantly. “Someone strong, and tall, and _very handsome_.” 

Lena can’t stop the blush from creeping up her face when the words she had spoken earlier, at a time where she was much more confident, are repeated back to her. “Sounds like quite the catch.”

Kara casually leans forward on the front of the saddle. The grin on her lips is apparent even if she’s trying hard to hide it. “If I win, which I will, you’ll have to clean my guns for a whole month.” 

“And all I get is a kiss?” Lena laughs, but she’s already figured out Kara plans to let her win and she has absolutely no qualms about it. It was one of the most creative ways Lena’s ever been asked to kiss someone, and as much as she hates to admit it, she was surprised the outlaw was capable of such a romantic gesture. 

“I’ll make it a very good one. A proper kiss.” Kara promises and Lena believes her. She’s suddenly very anxious to win this race and claim her prize. 

“As I’m a gambling woman, I accept your terms.” 

They exchange a firm handshake, leather riding gloves covering both of their hands to prevent getting their them mauled by the rough reins during long rides like these.

“First one there wins. On 3.” They stop their horses until they’re standing side by side, unmoving. Their eyes are locked, both of them nod to signal they’re ready and Kara begins the countdown: “One...three!”

With an abrupt burst of speed, Kara takes off and leaves Lena and Bear scrambling to catch up. 

“You don’t play fair Miss Danvers!” Lena shouts and resents the way Kara turns to look back at her with a glint in her eyes and a smirk on her face. 

“Have ya ever known me to play fair Miss…?” Kara takes a chance, echoing Lena’s own words from when they first met on the road to Brookhaven. 

Lena understands what Kara is asking for, and she willingly surrenders. “Luthor,” she shouts back. 

Their horses trample on the ground as the riders push them to their limit. Lena’s leaning forward, holding her weight onto her legs to preserve her tailbone and other sensitive areas around there. A painful burn sets in her thighs and calves about halfway there but still, she commands Bear to keep up the blistering pace. 

Kara lets up once they get to camp and Lena passes her easily. Once they finally stop, the horses snort and shake their heads, thankful for the reprieve. Even though dust clings to their sweaty bodies and their muscles throb painfully from exertion, a sense of unmistakable contentment washes over them both.

“Well shit,” Kara shakes her hair loose from her hat as she guides her horse to the nearest hitching post. “Good ridin’, Miss Luthor.” It wasn’t a total lie. Lena had only just learned to ride a month ago and she was already almost as good as some of the folk here.

“I know you let me win.” Lena feeds Bear an apple, whispering in a low voice about how very proud she was of him and she can’t believe that she was actually developing an affinity for an animal that lugs her around all day.

Kara was well aware that her plan had been uncovered way before the race even started, and she didn’t care much for she was the real winner here. “How _dare_ ya accuse me ‘n Thumper the second of such things.”

Lena snorts. “Yes, I’m sure it was Thumper’s idea to throw the race.” 

“The second.” Kara corrects as she jumps down from the saddle, her spurs chime in when her boots impact with the ground.

“Pardon me, Thumper _the second_.” 

Kara laughs and hitches the animal on the wooden post, giving her a good scratch behind the ears as compensation for the exhausting day she’s had. “Rest up girl.” She turns to Lena, plopping the dusty hat over her head as she walks away slowly—her legs feel like mush and each step forward is harder than the next. “I’ll be in my tent if ya need me.” 

Lena fully understands the invitation but as she enjoys making the blonde squirm, she doesn’t follow her. Nor does she visit her tent or even talk to her for the rest of the day. Lena spends some time with James and Lucy, playing a game of dominos to unwind from the day they had. Every time Kara’s eyes catch hers Lena winks and promptly turns her attention back to the game. She can almost _feel_ the woman’s frustration and she, in turn, soaks up the satisfaction of being desired so desperately. 

When the sun goes down and the camp goes quiet, save for the howling laughter coming from the poker table near Jame’s tent, Lena finds Kara sitting in a chair by the fire. Her hat is covering her face, one of her legs is outstretched in front of her and her arms are crossed over her chest. Lena swears she hears soft snoring coming from the woman.

Slowly, she approaches her from behind and lays a hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing the muscle under her fingers. Kara jumps, pushing her hat up and turning sharply to eye the person who woke her from her slumber. 

“I wasn’t sleepin’” Kara blurts out in a sleep roughened voice.

Lena wants to tell her how utterly unbelievable the lie is, but she settles on straddling Kara’s lap instead. The wooden chair creaks loudly at the added weight it was definitely not prepared to handle. “I would very much like to cash in my prize now.”

“Right now?” Kara slides her hands around Lena’s waist, hooking her thumbs under the cotton suspenders holding Lena’s trousers. Her heart begins to thud rapidly against her chest in anticipation, but she waits for Lena to give her the consent to brings their lips together.

“Right now.” Lena fists the front of Kara’s shirt and yanks her forward.

They embrace slow and deep, and Lena moans when Kara fulfills her promise of giving her a proper kiss. When Lena notes she still has a death grip on Kara’s shirt, she lets the material slip from her grasp and slides her hand in the shirt’s opening. Her fingers explore the warm skin, tracing Kara’s collarbone she encounters the jagged edges of sacred flesh on her way to the woman’s shoulder.

Kara’s mouth is commanding, but yielding. She controls the pace, slipping her tongue inside Lena’s mouth, and yet she follows Lena’s movements. Lena sends her a silent request punctuated with a hum low in her throat, and Kara happily gives her exactly what she needs. It was nothing like her husband’s harsh and selfish kisses when she was forced into intimacy with him. This was closer to what she shared with several women she had secret liaisons with back in New York. 

When Kara angles her head and licks into her mouth anew, Lena lets out a moan against her lips and throws Kara’s hat off her head, her fingers tangling in golden hair. Kara responds to the growing intensity of Lena’s kiss with an appreciative groan that’s muffled into her mouth. Kara’s hands sliding down to squeeze Lena’s backside, and when she responds by grinding herself down into Kara’s lap the chair of questionable sturdiness collapses under them. 

When Lena lands on top of Kara, who’s hollering in amusement of their predicament, Lena wonders exactly when falling became a common theme in their relationship. It was fitting, she muses silently, as she peers down into the blue eyes that reflect the fire crackling beside them. Their hearts are falling and they can barely control it themselves as if they’re entirely too intoxicated by each other to do anything about it.

Kara sits up and moves until her back is resting against one of the logs behind them. Lena joins her, drawing up her knees into her chest as Kara’s arm slips around her shoulder. And when she sinks further into Kara’s side, Lena stops pretending that what she feels for the woman is anything other than complete infatuation. 

Kara’s heart swells in her chest and she almost grows fearful at the odd feeling, until she realizes that Lena is responsible for the way her heart beats faster when she rests her head against her shoulder. She presses her nose into the silky raven hair and breathes in the smell that’s earthy with a distinctive fragrance of wildflowers.

They fall asleep against the hard ground and neither of them are very pleased to wake with sore backs and legs, especially after the long day of riding and racing they had, but oddly, and not surprisingly, they get over it the moment their eyes meet.


	3. Gun in My Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets a visit from an old frenemy and Lena participates in her first robbery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dropping this baby on ya tonight. Again, thank you all for the lovely comments. Let me know how I'm doing and if you like where this story is headed.
> 
> warnings: violence and blood.

###  **CHAPTER 3: GUN IN MY HAND**

**_Mississippi, somewhere outside of Brookhaven._ **

**_June 21st, 1899._ **

“Mornin’ assholes.” Kara greets the table’s occupants who are casually conversing over their breakfast about whatever outlaws usually discuss upon waking. Alex is praising the merits of knife kills. Human, Kara presumes. So all in all, just a regular start to her day. 

The familiar faces stare up at her with matching grins, except for Lena who smiles warmly at the blonde, and thankfully, no one notices.

“Speak for yerself,” Mikey retorts with a wink.

Kara ruffles his hair and steals a piece of his bread roll. It’s far too big for her mouth but that never stopped her before. It bulges her cheek when she pushes it inside fully. She takes a seat between Maggie and Lena and throws her plate down in front of her with less tact than usual. 

Lena raises a brow at her in between bites and figures she hadn’t had her morning coffee yet. She is well aware of how testy the blonde can be in the morning without it. She swallows her food, her hand sliding on Kara’s knee as casually as Alex and Maggie talk about murder over breakfast. “Sleep well?”

Kara nods, regarding Lena’s piercing emeralds with a smile reserved for her and her only. “‘Course. You?”

“Great,” Lena replies, lightly bumping their shoulders together. When Kara smiles wider her breath catches in her throat at the sight of it. 

“Now what we’re seein’ here folks is a rare matin’ ritual...” Alex starts with a voice that’s deeper than usual and unmistakably teasing. Maggie laughs and pokes the food on Alex’s plate with her fork. 

Lena hides her blush by pressing her face to Kara’s shoulder, which really doesn’t help anything at all. 

Lucy stretches her hand to pat Lena’s head. “There, there.” For a lady who she’s seen undress in front of her more times than she could count, Lucy wonders why Lena acts so bashful when confronted about her more than friendly relationship with Kara. 

Kara chucks a spoonful of stew at Alex and the moment it impacts on her chin and neck, the war is officially on. 

Before it can degenerate further and the sisters start pulling others on their side to create a food fight army, Mikey leans forward on the table and stretches one arm between the both of them. “Let’s settle this...” His head turns to Kara and then Alex, sharp and purposeful, “with a duel.” He deepens his voice to sound as dramatic as he can and it’s ridiculous but it gets him a few chuckles from the women around the table. 

Kara stands up from her seat and Lena is thoroughly confused as to what’s happening. “I accept.”

“So do I.” Alex follows soon after, standing up and meeting Kara halfway to the left of the makeshift table. 

Mikey comes to stand beside them as the mediator. He places a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Name your prize.” 

“Alex’s share of the ribs from that pig you ‘n James _found_.” She sheds her gun belt, throwing it on the table with a loud _clunk_ that rattles the plates nearby. Alex does the same. 

Mikey crosses his arms over his chest, his chin lifted in clear defiance. “What are ya sayin’ Danvers, that we _stole_ it?” 

“Where else are ya gonna find _wild_ pigs ‘round here?” Kara questions with her arms wide open, gesturing at the thick forest that surrounds them. 

Lena stares at Lucy inquisitively and expects an answer immediately.

“Just watch,” she whispers vaguely with a wink and Lena is far from satisfied but she gathers she’ll get the full picture soon enough. 

Mikey shrugs, the corner of his lips pulling up into a smirk that Kara knows all too well and Maggie barks out a laugh. 

The women move closer to each other, their eyes taunting. Mikey presses both his hands into their chests, telling them to keep a respectable distance _or else_. They both know there is nothing else, but they comply for the sake of the show they’re putting on. 

“Now ladies, ya know the rules. No punchin’, no kickin’, no bittin’, and no head buttin’.” He sends Alex an accusing glare, “and no slappin’.” She has the audacity to shrug innocently and he shakes his head at the unsportsmanlike conduct displayed in front of him. “The winner is decided when one of y’all taps out or passes out. I have a right to judge the winner to the best of my ability.”

Lena sighs as she turns her pained expression towards Lucy. “We live amongst barbarians.”

“Don’t I know it,” Lucy responds between chuckles. 

“Begin!” Mikey shouts and jumps back just in time to avoid the two bodies colliding together. Their hands are clasped behind the other’s neck, pushing and pulling until one relents. 

Kara moves her boot in between Alex’s legs and kicks her foot out, tackling her to the ground. They grunt and groan and none of it is pleasurable, except they laugh in between. 

Kara locks Alex’s arm while her back is pressed into the grass. But Alex, ever the nimble one, slithers out of Kara’s grasp. They’re both back on their feet and adopt a somewhat decent figthing stance as they circle each other. There are several failed attempts at tackles but Alex manages to feint, duck Kara’s lunge and successfully take the larger woman down.

Kara hits the ground hard and before she can recover, kneeled down and hands and clutching grass in between her fingers, Alex’s arms are around her neck. She’s on her knees too and she’s got a tight reverse chokehold on Kara. 

It’s firm and relentless but even as Kara’s vision starts to go dark she doesn’t tap. She struggles against Alex’s grip, one hand keeping herself propped up while the other is pulling at Alex’s arm. Her feet scramble, digging and sending chunks of dirt flying behind her. 

Mikey has been moving around them the entire time, close enough to make sure the fight is clean but far enough not to get clapped in the mouth, again. Once Kara goes down and Alex initiates the submission, he follows suit and crouches down to get a view of Kara’s face, all red and veiny. After he counts to eighth in his head and her blue eyes flutter close, he calls it.

Alex loosens her grip and her sister slumps on the ground, unconscious. 

Mikey is ready with a bucket of water that he dumps over Kara. The cold water hits her face and she jerks awake, spluttering and coughing. He offers her his hand and she takes it, letting herself be yanked up.

When she’s back onto her feet, albeit not entirely balanced, Mikey slaps his hand on her back harder than necessary. “Ya have a nice nap?” He teases with a laugh and Kara glares at him before she pushes him away. 

She flips her wet hair back, it’s cold but in this heat, it feels more than nice. She and Alex shake hands, as it was a good and clean fight. “I see Maggie’s shown ya some new moves.”

“You have _no_ idea.” 

It’s Maggie’s turn to blush now. 

Lucy wonders what superpowers the Danvers sisters inherited to make women melt with their words. Something hereditary probably.

Kara ignores Alex’s suggestive tone as she steps forward into her space and pats her cheek gently, pressing her lips to her sweaty temple. Alex leans into her and Lena is a little shocked by the rare tender display between the sisters.

“Sometimes, once in a blue moon, they act like they like each other,” Lucy says, close to Lena’s ear.

“They almost appear, dare I say, _civilized,_ ” Lena speaks the word like it’s blasphemy. 

“I heard that,” Kara warns. 

Lena sits up and backs up slowly as Kara stalks forward. 

“I was hoping you would.” 

They stop. Lena quirks and eyebrow and then breaks out into a run. Kara is not too far behind, though her head is still a little fuzzy. 

“Ah, the joys of young love.” Alex breathes with a wistful sigh. 

* * *

Later that same dreadful and humid day, Lena is sitting on one of the tables eating an apple. One leg has been thrown over the other and is idly swaying as she watches Kara—Kara who changed into a sleeveless plaid red and blue shirt. Her suspenders have been thrown off her shoulders and idly dangle down the outside of her dark and worn Jeans. Her golden hair is loose and free and her olive-toned skin glistens with sweat, outlining every defined muscle in her arms. 

And Lena—well, Lena finds that the humidity in the air is nothing compared to the heat flushing her cheeks and the burning in the pit of her belly at the sight of Kara’s arms flexing with every swing of the axe. The blade carves down into the wooden logs as smoothly as a knife cuts into butter. 

When their eyes meet Lena sinks her teeth into the apple, sucking all the juice in her mouth as she does so. Her smirk is conquering yet hidden behind the apple she holds captive like Kara's stare.

Kara seems to be in a trance, mystified by a supernatural creature that beckons and calls to her. She lays her axe down without looking, the firewood forgotten. Her fingers pull at the material of her shirt as she lifts it out of her trousers to wipe the streak of sweat off her brow. 

Lena stills when the defined curve of Kara’s abs taunts her from afar. _Fuck._ Beaten at her own game. Her eyes snap up to meet Kara’s, and there it is, the smug grin she loves to hate.

With her shirt half-pulled out of her pants and her stirrups chiming melodically with every step, Kara approaches Lena like a wild cat stalking its prey. How quickly the tables have turned by one simple play. One calculated and aptly executed move. She knows it. Lena knows it and _fuck_ does she ever feel it. 

“‘Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark our coming, and look brighter when we come,” Lena quotes from memory and the gleam in the cobalt eyes that seek her own speaks volumes.

Kara’s in front of her now, her calloused fingers wrapping around her wrist and pulling gently until the apple is mere inches from her mouth. She takes a bite of the fruit and the juice runs down her mouth. Lena tracks its movements as it travels around the curves of plump, and pink lips, and for a fleeting moment, she envies it deeply.

_Two can play this game, Miss Luthor._

Kara winks and turns to leave when she feels the light tap of a boot hitting her ass. Turning sharply, she rests both of her hands on her hips and tilts her chin up. Darkened green eyes follow the movements and she bites her lip to keep herself from laughing. She squints as the sun hits her eyes. “Ma’am, haven’t you heard it might be dangerous to anger an outlaw?”

“I’ll take my chances.” Her voice is low and rough and she hates herself for indulging and letting her mind run wild with thoughts of Kara using those lips in more suitable ways. 

Alex interrupts them, as it's recently become one of her preferred hobbies besides shooting and robbing and Maggie. 

“Here, you’re lookin’ a little _thirsty_.” Alex pushes a clear glass bottle filled with dark liquid into Kara’s chest. It’s a sugary soda that Kara loves, happily giving into to her penchant for sweets. She brought one to Lena as well, as she too was on the verge of doing something regretfully indecent in full view of the beautiful and impressionable folk working around the camp.

Kara glares at Alex, but it loses its bite after the first sip she takes. 

Lena takes it upon herself to thank Alex for both of them since Kara still lacks social skills. Though, upon further investigation, Lena regrets to find that Kara definitely does it on purpose. 

“Ya know, that stuff will rot ya teeth,” Mikey says as he passes by them, shirtless and just as sweaty as the rest of them.

“No more than the tobacco ya chew every damn day.” And like she prophesied, he spits out a clump of tobacco from his mouth near her boots. 

“He’s already rotten, it won’t change much.” Alex quips, the comment not deterring either of the women from taking large gulps out of the refreshing soda.

“I knew a feller who drank that soda every day ‘n when he died ‘n they cut him open, he had a hole in his stomach this big!” He holds his hand far too wide apart and they all roll their eyes. “They say it was from drinkin’ that cola stuff.”

Alex swats the back of his head, “ya just made that up ya damn fool.”

He shrugs, rubbing the prickly and newly buzzed hair. “I’m only just lookin’ out for y’all.”

“What next? You’re gonna start sayin’ smokin’ is bad too?” Kara snorts.

They all laugh. 

_How ridiculous,_ Lena thinks as she finishes the apple and throws the core away.

“You ain’t afraid to get your nipples bitten off by some critter walkin’ ‘round like that?” Kara teases and makes a pinching motion with her thumb and index, slowly approaching the man.

Mikey covers them instantly and steps back. “The only critter here is you. Step away from my nipples, Miss.” 

“Listen if you’re gonna put ‘em out there…” Kara lunges forward and he yelps when her fingers narrowly miss him. 

Lena and Alex are properly choking on the soda now and they both find that it’s very unpleasant when it fizzes in their noses. 

“I’m done, promise.” Kara throws up her hands after they chase each other around the table good and proper and they’re both sweatier than before. Kara chugs on her drink and then throws her arm around Mikey’s bare shoulders while they catch their breath. 

Mikey seems skeptical but after a few moments, his nipples appear to be safe so he reciprocates the gesture.

Lena is smitten by the dazzling and relaxed grin on Kara’s face. It’s nice, she thinks, seeing the woman looking free of worry and anger. Her face is glowing, but then again the sun is shining on her and it might have something to do with how angelic she appears. 

“Winn’s back,” Kara announces and sips on her drink, peering at the horses running down the path towards them.

“He’s got a friend with him, looks like.” Mikey continues and steals the cola bottle from Kara’s hand, taking a sip from it. He barely gets a taste before it’s ripped out of his hand.

“How much ya reckon he paid ‘em?” Kara belches and it’s not entirely attractive but it makes her stomach feel better at least.

“A woman too. Pretty _and_ blonde.” Kara frowns at the comment and he turns to her. “Not as pretty as you.”

“That a compliment I hear?” Kara feigns surprise. They’ve had their differences in the past, but Kara believes he's a good kid. A little impulsive, but a good feller nonetheless. And it may be naive, but she trusts him. 

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Never.” 

Kara briefly hears the tail end of the conversation Alex and Lena were having behind her before Winn comes rushing towards her, something about getting her a weapon. Kara makes a mental note when Lena mentions being comfortable with a repeater rifle. 

Winn’s hat and clothes are in complete disarray as he sprints towards Kara. “I come bearing gifts!” He exclaims, gesturing at the woman behind him. 

Kara doesn’t look where he’s wildly gesturing, she simply stares at her friend with her brow knit in suspicion instead. “I’ve come to fear your gifts, Winn.” 

“Oh, you’ll love this one, you grumpy ole cowgirl.” He says with a tone that’s entirely too chirpy as he playfully bumps his fist into her shoulder. 

“Kara fuckin’ Danvers.” A deep and yet all too feminine voice shouts from a distance.

Her head snaps up and Kara immediately recognizes the blonde sliding off of her horse’s saddle. 

“Sarah Lance, as I live ‘n breathe!” Kara shouts back and throws her arms open as if welcoming her to her humble abode. 

“You been in the south for too long,” Sarah teases and tips her hat in greeting. “You look like a proper hillbilly.” Her expression is far from disgust though, as her eyes rake Kara’s body.

Sarah rides with Queen and his gang of buffoons. Kara and Alex weren’t too fond of them, they’ve turned towns into war zones more often than not. Sarah, she was alright, when she wasn’t shooting at them. “It’s fuckin’ hot, what am I supposed to wear?”

Sarah moves her hand, laying it down on her gun belt, “If it were up to me you wouldn’t be wearin’ much.” 

Kara deflects the comment like she was born to do so with a roll of her baby blues. “What is it you want?”

“That’s the ‘gift’ part,” Winn interjects. “No, don’t you frown at me like that,” Winn pokes Kara’s brow and throws his arm around her broad shoulders. “Come, let us sit and discuss.” 

Kara leads them towards Alex and Lena, who’s still seated atop the table. She sits down next to her and it’s not because Sarah is there that she shifts a little closer than is really required, pressing her shoulder into Lena’s thigh. 

A head of jet black hair and the most beautiful sculpted face grabs Sarah’s attention away from everything else. Kara knows the feeling all too well. “I don’t think I’ve met this lovely lady.”

“Lena Luthor, Sara Lance.” Kara introduces with a jerk of her thumb towards the tall blonde beside her in complete disinterest and tries her darndest not to growl at the way Sarah looks at her. 

“Where did you find such a beautiful woman, Danvers?” 

The tone of Sarah’s voices spurs violent images to the front of Kara’s mind. She doesn’t grab the woman’s head and smash her face against the side of the cable spool table. Nor does she step on her foot and repeatedly hit her forehead against her nose. 

Kara doesn’t do those things, but she sure as shit thinks about them real hard. She’s trying to be good and calm and not act like a damn maniac. For Lena, for herself, and lastly, for Alex’s sanity.

When she hears Alex whisper a knowing ‘here we go’, she smiles a little. 

“You know you can speak to me directly? I’m not just here as decoration, Miss Lance.” Lena’s tone is curt and dry when the stranger speaks to her like her brother’s idiots friends used to. Like she was nothing but an object to be attained and taken.

Kara throws her head back in laughter and falls just a tad deeper for the raven-haired woman. Judging by the snort that comes out of Alex, so does she. 

Sarah's grin grows wider at the comment. “You’re not from around here.” 

Lena‘s not a particularly violent person, but she is thinking of a few creative ways to wipe that smirk off of Sarah’s face. “I am now.”

“Is she yours?”

 _Calm down Kara, ya can’t choke the woman to death in front of everyone. It’ll set a bad example._ If the voice in her head sounds like her sister, it’s no mistake. She glances at Alex briefly, who appears to be amused rather than worried.

Lena moves forward towards Kara and throws her arm over her shoulder, her hand dangling in front of Kara’s chest. “It’s very much the other way around.” Lena punctuates the statement with a kiss to Kara’s cheek, reddened by the sun and perhaps slight embarrassment.

“She ain’t a prize horse,” Kara snarls, though being Lena’s sure did have a nice ring to it. “The hell you sayin’, Sarah?”

Sure, Sarah senses the hostility but that’s never stopped her before. “Just wonderin’ if I’ll have a companion for the night or not.” 

“Who says you’ll survive that long?” Lena retorts, her voice sweet and yet her words are sharp and piercing like the tip of a sword. A beautiful dichotomy.

“You wound me.” The words are spoken with confidence, thought something resembling hurt flashes for a brief moment in her eyes. 

_Rejection is not pleasant, now is it?_ Lena wants to say, but she keeps the comment to herself. 

“Quit it with the horse shit!” Kara growls. “Just tell us what ya want.” _Always gotta put on a damn show, don’t ya?_

“Your help.” 

Kara snorts.

“There’s a large homestead near the river. It’s secluded and word has it they’ve been hoarding lots of money and other valuables.”

“What’s the catch?” Alex says, finally, and her gun hand relaxes on the grip of her revolver. It’s not that she doesn’t trust Sarah, but she actually really fucking doesn’t. The woman makes her skin crawl. 

Sarah interrupts as Winn is about to speak, shooting him a look that makes his mouth close instantly. “No catch. We rob them to hell and back.” She speaks and it's offhanded, but to the trained ear that’s not all there is to it. “We split what we find.” 

“Well, that’s not exactly true.” He cowers slightly under Sarah’s glare, but he turns to Kara, the blonde he fears far more. “I heard people talkin’ and they’re sayin’ these folks are not all there, up here,” he taps his temple to further explain as if it wasn’t clear enough. 

Kara chuckles. “Look around, ain’t none of us right in the head. What’s your point?”

“He’s saying we’ll have to be more careful than usual.” Her tone says ‘idiot’ even though her words may not.

“Careful’s my middle name!” Kara exclaims proudly.

“That oughta be engraved on your tombstone, Danvers.” And that’s the first thing Sarah has spoken today that didn’t want to make Kara rip her throat out with her teeth. Perhaps the heat was getting to her. She really wants another soda now.

Lena and Alex spit out their drink again and it’s just as unpleasant as the first time.

“How many guns do you reckon we need?” Kara’s voice is all business and it sends a thrill down Lena’s spine. Perhaps at the prospect of the robbery, or perhaps she really wants to find out if Kara would whisper more intimate words in her ear in that same commanding tone. 

“Three should be enough. Heard they’re a fairly sizable bunch.” 

“We’ll take Mikey ‘n Alex.” Kara turns to Lena. “You up for it?”

“I’m with you.” Lena’s ready to do something other than repair clothing and equipment and to help all these, still quite annoying, but lovely people that have, regardless of how cold she acted at first, welcomed her with open arms. 

“Great. Alex?” 

Alex nods, a clear strategy already formulated in her mind. She hasn’t seen the place yet, but she’s led enough robberies similar to this to know what to expect. “We wait for nightfall, sneak around and survey the area. Lena and I can do that while the rest of y’all go ‘round the house taking out anyone that’s outside. If it looks good, then we finish the job.”

“Aye aye, captain!” Kara stands up, grabs Winn’s face between her hands and leans down to give him a big ole smooch. “Good work.” She laughs when he furiously wipes at his mouth and mutters complaints about her lack of respect for his personal space.

Lena thinks back to the first few weeks when Kara had caught her by surprise with a similar gesture. She smiles fondly at the memory, and at the woman’s retreating back, only to roll her eyes when Sarah speaks.

“Where’s my kiss?” She complains, rather obnoxiously.

“Ya ain’t in my good graces yet, Lance.” Kara turns and points at her, omitting the fact that she’ll never be in the good graces of the Danvers Gang. 

They disperse around camp after that, Lena busies herself helping James and Lucy fixing a few things around and when she gets back to her tent, there’s a repeater carabine on her bed. There’s a note too, the handwriting is messy and the spelling is horrid but Lena decodes it with ease.

_If ya can make it prety is yers_

She does, amongst adding her own personal flair to it. Back in New York, she had the gunsmith fancy up her weapons with gold-plated hammers and triggers, but seeing as her resources are far more limited here she settles on varnishing the cherry wood with a dark auburn color and giving the weapon a deep cleaning it desperately needed. 

* * *

They ride to the homestead, leaving their horses in the woods behind and the ‘river’ is far more of a swamp. The smell is abhorrent and Lena is glad for the bandana pulled up over her mouth and nose face even if it doesn’t exactly filter out much of the filth around. 

Kara reminds them once again to not _fuck anythin’ up and be careful,_ reserving a special glare for Sarah and then they separate in two groups. Lena follows Alex to the barn, glancing quickly at Kara and Mikey who, in perfect tandem, dispatch two guards silently and hoist the now lifeless bodies over the fence. During the day they would have been easily discoverable but with the blanket of a dark night on their side, the poorly built fence was enough to hide them. 

“Look at the size of that barn,” Alex whispers as they slowly sneak their way around the fence on the left side of the property, opposite the very literal shit creek. “I bet they have a lotta horses. We could scare 'em to create a diversion.” 

When they enter the barn, however, there are no horses. What they find are people in cages and they cower in the back of them as soon as she and Alex enter. Her heart pounds in her chest, her eyes frantically searching around the not so well kept barn. There's a wall almost entirely covered of rattlesnake skins drying and when they land on a table filled with meat that is definitely not from any animal, she wants to scream.

“What the hell…” Alex breathes as the folk held captive call out to them from behind the metal bars of their cages, the only thing that seems to be well constructed around here.

“Please, please...they—they’ll eat us.”

Lena definitely gags now. Her eyes lock with Alex’s and they’re frozen there until Kara, Mikey and Sarah slip in through the side window, covered in blood that is also not animal, Lena observes wryly. 

“The fuck is this?” Kara looks towards Alex then Lena for an answer. “Where the damn horses at?” She continues when they both seem to have forgotten how to talk.

Lena makes a face under her covered mask. “Cannibals.” 

“Y-you have to get us out of here!” One of them pleads and Kara freezes when she connects the dots. One good look around the inside of the barn has her leaning into the rotten wood of the wall closest to her while Lena gently rubs circle on her back as her souper makes its way back up and demands to be released from the confines of her stomach.

“How do—why—shit, I think I’m gonna be sick again.”

“There’s a term for this? For folk who eat,” Alex pauses for a moment lest she loses her lunch too, “other folk?”

“There was this man, Alfred Packer. He was out in prison for manslaughter but there was evidence that he didn’t just _murder_ him. That was one of the first cases they found but—”

“That’s enough,” Kara holds up her hand towards Lena. “I’ve had enough of the history lesson for now.”

“Shit,” Sarah hisses from her perch on the second floor. She watches as four individuals slip out of the house with shotguns and rifles in their hands. “I think they heard Danvers puking all the way out there,” she jests with some reproach. “They’re coming our way.”

Kara runs forward, sliding and pressing herself against the wall beside one of the barn doors, drawing both of her revolvers and cocking the hammers back with gloved thumbs. “Kill every last one of these sons of bitches,” she orders through gritted teeth.

When the large wooden doors open with a loud creak, the firefight breaks out almost immediately. Lena vaults behind a dried hay bale, cocking her rifle and taking a shot at the first one that walks through. He’s about to say something when her fingers press the trigger and the bullet rips through his throat. He gurgles, blood spurting from his mouth before he crumples to the ground in a heap.

Lena doesn’t have time to process that she just killed a man when another one appears in the window next to Kara. Her instincts take over and her next shot lands straight between his eyes. 

Kara doesn’t flinch when warm blood sprays on the back of her neck. Her eyes snap to Lena’s wide ones and she nods at her in thanks. 

When more of them rush in, one of them nearly backups against Kara as he shoots at Mikey. She kicks the back of his knee in such a way that it slips out of its socket, painfully. He falls on his good knee, yelling in pure agony. 

“Make your peace,” Kara rasps though she doesn’t expect an answer and that’s made clear as she pops one at the back of his head before the whole sentence is out of her mouth. 

In the middle of the chaos, Kara slides over to Lena and crouches next to her, her breathing labored as she somehow managed to wrangle herself out of the grasp of the one she figures was the father. Big and burly and definitely smelly, though he was no match for a bullet aimed at his heart. She notices a rip in Lena’s coat, just below her shoulder. “You’re bleedin’.”

“It’s just a graze,” Lena reassures. She watches as Alex kicks one of them in the stomach, pushing the barrel of her rifle against his chest and shoots more times than his strictly needed. Mikey tackles one on the ground and Sarah shoots him in the head from above.

Kara nods at Lena and a silent look of understanding passes between them as bullets hiss over their heads. It would be a perfectly good romantic moment if they weren’t both stained with other people’s blood. 

They duck out of cover and join the quickly dwindling fight that’s over as soon as it started. Lena’s entire body is buzzing, her heartbeat pounding in her ears and soon there’s a high pitched ringing and she’s pretty certain Kara is yelling something at her but she can’t hear anything. 

Her arm is grasped by a strong hand and she’s being dragged outside. As soon as the cool night air hits her skin she takes a deep breath and it feels like she was forcefully pushed back into her body, her hearing clearing up with a sudden whooshing sound.

The first thing she hears is Kara frantically calling her name and vigorously shaking her shoulders. 

“I’m okay, I’m fine.” The words come out in rapid bursts and Kara isn’t easily convinced. But Alex comes out of the barn with two bags and Mikey and Sarah are followed by at least five of the cannibal’s prisoners.

“We got everythin’, let’s get the fuck out of here!” Alex yells. 

They’re riding back to camp, Mikey trotting forward until he’s next to Lena. He wants to congratulate her on having successfully survived her first robbery when his worried eyes trace the clammy and pale face. “You ain’t lookin’ so hot.”

And that’s when she nearly falls off her horse. 

Mikey pulls on the reins of his steed and skids to a stop, jumping out of the saddle in a hurry as he catches Lena against his chest before she hits the ground. Kara’s there in an instant, turning her horse around while Alex shouts at her. 

“What the hell happened?” She demands frantically, pulling Lena half into her lap.

Mikey’s gaze doesn’t leave Lena for a moment. “I don’t know, Kara. She just fell off.”

Kara’s wild eyes zero in on the bleeding wound on Lena’s arm, her coat is slick with her blood. “fuckin’ pieces of shit must have poisoned their bullets.” That’s how they hunt. She feels like throwing up again. 

They arrive at camp in record time, Kara carrying a limp Lena in her arms. She’s yelling for Winn as she walks the short distance to her tent, and gently lays Lena down on her cot. The moment Winn enters, Kara turns and fists the front of his shirt between her hands. “You fix this, you fix this right now!” She barks in his face. 

His eyes are wide and he can barely formulate any words. Kara knows she’s scaring the shit out of him but she can’t find it in her to care right now. Not while Lena is awake and trashing on her bed, groaning and sweating pearls. 

Kara feels a tug on the back of her vest, and she kneels down in the dirt next to Lena, taking the trembling and unnaturally warm hand in hers. “What is it?”

“Stay,” she chokes out.

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” The promise holds more meaning than Kara could have ever imagined. 

Lena can barely keep her eyes open, her deathly pale skin is covered in a cold sweat. She catches a glimpse of the perturbed look on Kara’s face and she’s out again. 

Lena comes to consciousness hours after Winn had given her medicine to neutralize the rattlesnake venom in her system. Kara took a chance when she guessed that's the poison the cannibals used, and she made sure everyone else hadn't been hit by one of those damned bullets. She opens one eye to find Kara sitting in a chair next to her. Her head is down, her arms crossed over her chest and she’s sleeping soundly. Lena wants to reach out to her, ask Kara to join her on the small bed but her eyelids are heavy, so heavy, and darkness claims her once more.

The next time Lena awakes her eyes slowly drift open and the first thing she notices is that she’s in fact very much alive, the throbbing in her head is making sure that she knows just how alive she is. The air inside the tent is warm and sticky, and when she stretches her body she feels something, or rather someone, shifting against her and murmuring incoherently into her hair.

She pulls back and her heart pounds in brief panic before she realizes she had been sleeping with her head pressed into Kara’s neck, her arms tight around her waist and her fingers bunched in the cotton shirt. 

The air is thick, and Lena guesses it’s around midday with how humid it is. Though her clothes feel heavy and she’s unpleasantly sweaty, the warmth of Kara’s body soothes her. So, with a hum, she burrows herself back into Kara’s front.

She’s not sure if she fell asleep again, but Kara is moving and shifting until they’re both eye level. “Welcome back,” she whispers, her voice rough with sleep. They’re close enough Lena can see the green flecks in her blue eyes. 

“How long was I out?” 

“Couple days.” They’re quiet again, staring at each other like there’s nothing else for them to do at this very moment but be in each other's arms. “How are ya feelin’?”

“Like death,” Lena groans and it gets a chuckle out of Kara. “Those people we helped, are they…” She’s suddenly worried about what happened to them after she spent the last few days apparently sleeping like the dead.

“Just fine. Sarah took ‘em to Brookhaven.” She moves her head and rests her chin on top of Lena’s head, sighing in contentment when she squeezes her waist. “We should get you up. You must be hungry and everyone can’t wait to see ya.”

Call it selfishness, but Lena wanted Kara to herself while she still could, to enjoy the quiet and blissful moment after all that had transpired. “Can we stay, just a while longer?”

“Anythin’ you need, Lena.”

There’s something about her words that cut right through Lena’s defenses and she breaks down like a dam overflowing. The waves crash through and wrecking everything in its path. She tells Kara how she fled New York with her brother’s help, how Edge treated her during their marriage, and finally, after crying into Kara’s chest for what felt like hours, she confessed how safe she felt in the blonde’s arms.

“Ain’t no one ever gonna hurt you again. Not as long as I’m here.” She seals the promise with a kiss to Lena’s temple and the noble intention of honoring it until her last breath leaves her body. 

* * *

Kara’s laying in the grass, resting under the shade of the tree behind her, one arm behind her head. She turns her to look up at Lena, who’s propped up on her elbow, peering down at her. Her dark hair is loose, pushed to one side, flowing down her shoulder and still dripping wet from their recent swim in the lake. 

Kara can’t find the words to properly describe how breathtaking the sight before her is. The sun shining behind Lena, there’s a lazy smile on her lips and her green eyes shimmer with intensity and something else Kara can’t quite grasp.

But she doesn’t dwell on the fact that Lena might possibly be the most beautiful woman she’s ever met, the summer breeze feels heavenly against her cool skin and drying hair and for the first time, Kara feels at peace—like she isn’t living a completely insane life. As if she and Lena are simply courting each other like young adults their age usually do. It's real and yet dream-like, and Kara wishes she never had to wake up. 

“Here I can trace the locks of gold, which round thy snowy forehead wave.” Lena traces the planes of Kara’s face with her finger, as reciting poems that remind her of Kara has become a habit of hers in the past few days. Back in New York Lena had studied English Literature at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. She received her degree and would have continued her education further though once she married Edge, he wouldn't let her saying it was frivolous and women didn't need higher education.

“The cheeks which sprung from Beauty’s mold,” Her fingers travel downward, grazing the cheekbone covered with freckles. “The lips, which made me Beauty’s slave,” her thumb brushes over Kara’s lower lip as she gazes down into the ocean blue of Kara’s bright eyes. “Who’s azure floats in liquid fire.”

Kara’s never been one for such romantic gestures, but the low timber of Lena’s voice coupled with the barely-there accent makes her heart soar and now she wonders if she ever truly lived before meeting the dark-haired beauty. “Ya read that in those books your hoard in your tent?”

Lena nods, settling her hand on Kara’s chest and letting her fingers slip under the material of the open collar. “Do you read poetry, Miss Danvers?” Her fingers glide over the skin and it’s soft in contrast to the hard muscles underneath. 

Kara moves the hand on her stomach to cover Lena’s with her own, the skin incredibly smooth compared to hers. “I used to read, back before—when my folks—they died in a fire.” _Good goin’, idiot._

Lena’s brow knit together, the movement of her fingers stalling momentarily when Kara squeezes her hand. “That’s horrible. I’m so sorry to hear that, Kara.”

“Yeah.” Kara turns her head, and for a moment Lena wants to withdraw her hand but then Kara’s fingers begin to slowly move along hers. 

“How long ago?” Lena doesn’t want to pry, but if Kara is willing to confide in her, then she’ll listen. Lena did just recently burst at the seams in Kara’s arms, airing out all her dirty laundry, and she can’t say she wouldn’t be a little hurt if Kara wasn’t willing to do the same. 

“Alex was thirteen, I was eight. There was a fire in the house ‘n it started in the kitchen, I think. It trapped us all in there. The only reason I’m alive is ‘cause Alex saved my ass. A beam fell on her back when she kicked the front door down. It burned her pretty good, but we both got out. She’s was always a fighter, and I’m just the dumbass she drags along.” Kara takes a deep breath, like a weight she didn’t know she was holding is thrown off her shoulders and she can properly breathe again. “I’d die for her without thinkin’ twice. I’d protect her with my life if it comes down to it.”

Lena drops a lingering kiss to Kara’s shoulder, the fabric is coarse against her lips but she can feel the warmth of the woman’s body through the cotton. “You mentioned Alex’s mother, you’re half-sisters?” 

“We’re a pair of bastards.” Kara chuckles, it’s self-deprecating and Lena wants to reach out into her heart and make it all disappear; the hurt and the pain. “My real mother’s out there somewhere." _If she's still alive._

“I am too,” Lena admits quietly. 

“Huh?” Kara finally turns towards her. 

Lena ducks her head to avoid Kara’s questioning gaze and her eyes are locked on their joined hands. “A bastard.” There’s a pause as she hesitates for a fleeting second. “My dad cheated on his wife with a working girl. I never met her.” Everyone treated her differently from then on. She wasn’t a _real_ Luthor, she was the bastard daughter of an adulterer. None of that mattered here, though. She was Lena, and the rest didn’t matter. 

Kara lets go of Lena’s hand like she hates to do it and pushes herself, resting on her forearms. “Mikey, Maggie, Lucy, James, ‘n the rest...we ain’t related by blood, but they’re family.” She reaches out and lifts Lena’s chin so their eyes meet and Kara smiles when they do. It’s not smug, it’s not teasing, it’s brutally honest and it’s almost too much for the brunette to handle all at once, especially with the words that come out of Kara’s mouth next. “And you’re part of that family now, Lena.” 

Lena’s leaning in and Kara lets her. The recent revelations about the way her husband had treated her made Kara all too aware of how she acted around Lena, _how_ she touched her. She didn’t want to hurt her, and she supposes she isn’t when Lena moans low in her throat when their lips part and their tongues greet each other eagerly. 

The sound of a rider approaching shatters the moment into tiny pieces Lena wishes she could gather and glue back together. They pull back, barely, when a rough voice calls out to them from his perch atop his horse. 

“Excuse me, Miss Danvers?”

Kara glances over at Thumper and Bear who are drinking water from the river not too far from them. All her weapons are secured to the horse’s saddle, as well as her belt and revolvers. “Who’s askin’?”

“Sherif William Anderson.” He greets, removing his hat and squinting when the sun hits his eyes. He has a typical lawn man look about him: a perfectly trimmed mustache and a sand-colored coat with the star pinned on the front of it. 

Kara remains half seated on the grass, giving Lena a quick wink to reassure her when she feels the woman’s gaze burning into the side of her face. “What can I do for ya, Sherif William Anderson?”

“A few days ago some folks turned up in town. Says you helped and that they were held captive by some crazies out by the swamp.” Ah, so someone else acknowledges it wasn’t a river, Lena thinks. “When we arrived at the location, there were bodies full of holes in ‘em.”

“I wouldn’t know anythin’ about that, sir. Who gave ya my name?” And her physical description too, apparently. She seethes silently, having a good idea of who it might be.

“The lady who brought ‘em in. Tall and blonde.” 

_Cunt_. “And the folks we saved, they had nothin’ more to say?” Kara asks cooly, and Lena is left wondering how she can appear so calm and collected while being interrogated by the law. Years of practice? A total disregard for the law and authority? All possibilities. 

“They wouldn’t talk.” He looks away, sucking on his teeth like he knows Kara’s playing him for a fool. Which, to his credit, she was.

Kara has trouble holding back her smile. “Funny thing that is.” 

“If ya happen to remember anything ya know where ta find me, Miss Danvers.” 

“Have yourself a good day now.” Her voice is as sweet as sugar itself. 

“Right then, I’ll see you soon.” He clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth, steering his horse back onto the road behind the pair.

Lena and Kara’s lock as soon as he’s gone. “Well,” Kara drawls as she plops her hat back onto her head. “I guess it’s time to pack up.”

Lena groans but takes Kara’s offered hand regardless. 

When they ride back to camp Kara is yelling like a madwoman, barking out orders and running around like there was a literal fire burning a hole in her trousers. Lena’s never seen a group this large pack up so quickly. 

It takes hours, almost until sundown, but the clearing is now empty and the only evidence anyone was ever here are the wagon tracks they leave behind. 

Kara pins a letter with a throwing knife to one of the trees on their way out. 

_Cross my path again and we’re finishing this._

_Yours fucking truly._

Lena helps with the spelling and proper punctuation, and the penmanship.


	4. This War We Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one with the chase...and the reward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could explain this chapter but I really can't lmao Day 14 of quarantine (for us Canadians) is hitting me pretty hard and I'm half-crazed.
> 
> Chapter warnings: graphics violence, blood, and brief mentions of sexual and physical abuse.

###  **CHAPTER 4: THIS WAR WE MADE**

**_Houston Texas, USA._ **

**_October 3rd, 1899._ **

“You really can’t help yourself, can you?” Lena says with all the reproach she can muster, which is easy to do when two very pissed off men, one with a bleeding forehead, are hot on their tail as they’re blazing a path out of the saloon they were currently in. They may have shouldered a few folks on their way out but neither Lena nor Kara bother apologizing.

“They were askin’ about you!” Kara yells just as they round up the corner of the next street. Bullets snap past their heads and it’s quite incredible how they’re both unphased by it all. “The hell was I supposed to do?”

“We could have _talked_ our way out of it!” Lena shouts back, glancing behind them as she struggles to keep up with Kara’s longer legs.

“I don’t think talkin’ is what they had in mind, Lena.” Kara’s point is being proven when more gunshots ring out into the night, though none of them hit the two women. 

“You don’t know that!” She retorts as they run down a few blocks and take a left onto another busy main road. Lena doesn’t recognize this part of the city and if Kara is just as lost as Lena is, she doesn’t let it show. “ _And_ we agreed on laying low after the bank job.”

More bullets whizz past them and Kara mutters curses under her breath, ducking her head with every shot and pulling Lena along. “Dammit, can we argue about this when we ain’t bein’ shot at?” They could very well retaliate, but the streets are filled with folk either watching with wide eyes or trying to run away from them, and Kara fears accidentally shooting someone — sympathy that neither bounty hunters seem to possess. 

“I’m not the one that picked a fight with them,” Lena defends, her fingers twitching with anticipation near her holster. 

“In this alley, come on.” Kara tugs Lena’s wrist and leads them around the bricked alleyway that offers them a decent cover at this time of night. The two commercial buildings are close to each other and there’s barely enough space for two adults to walk side by side in the tight space. Lena’s back is shoved into the brick building as Kara leans in close and brackets both of her hands against the wall on either side of Lena’s head. 

Lena takes a deep breath, momentarily distracted but Kara’s lips before she whispers: “You reckon they saw us?” 

“Shush!” Kara whispers-yells and covers Lena’s mouth with her hand. 

Lena’s brow furrows immediately at the rude gesture and speaks her muffled indignation into Kara’s bare hand. “Don’t you tell me to _shush_.” She picks up distant voices and footsteps growing louder. There will be plenty more time to yell at Kara later, Lena decides. 

She pulls Kara’s hand away from her mouth by gripping the sleeve of the black dress shirt. It’s fancier than what the outlaw usually wears, a special occasion for their night out together. Kara wasn’t wearing her vest either, complaining that it was too hot to wear that much clothing. 

“Kiss me,” Lena suggests in the guise of blending in with their surroundings when in fact, she really just wants Kara’s mouth on her. It doesn’t matter where, or how, she just _needs_ it.

“You kiss me,” Kara retorts with a smirk that has Lena seething. 

With a rough yank, she pulls Kara by her suspenders and captures her lips with intentions that are far from gentle. Teeth clash together but they both smile against the other’s lips the moment they meet, and for a second they’re alone in their own little world. Though, the diversion didn’t work as well as Lena thought it would, as one of the men easily recognizes the pair. 

“Over here!” He shouts to his trigger-happy friend as he comes to a stop in front of the dimly lit alley. “After ‘em!” 

Kara snatches Lena’s hand as they push off the wall and sprint further down the alleyway, Lena letting off a few blind shots behind them. The sound echoes as the bullets ricochet off the wall and they both duck their heads instinctively while they round the corner into a courtyard. There’s a fountain in the middle and three archways, all of them leading in different directions. Kara promptly chooses the path furthest on the left, shouldering the metal gate open without stopping. 

They continue running straight until they have to stop in front of a brick wall that’s just a few inches shorter than Kara. They hoist themselves up over it, Lena taking a running start and hopping off a wooden crate to clear it. 

After landing on the other side of the it, Kara directs them to the right and they immediately emerge onto a crowded street; folks are enjoying a smoke on the sidewalk, some are standing by while others are slouched against the wall of the building they’re gathered around. 

They holster their weapons not to draw unwanted attention but they still get the odd looks thrown at them. Someone speaks up, slurring heavily. “Are you two ladies alright?” 

“Fine, thank you,” Lena answers with the fakest smile Kara’s ever witnessed, but seeing as the gentleman is clearly intoxicated, he doesn’t notice the difference. 

With pounding hearts and a rather unpleasant burning in their chests, they blend in with the crowd on the sidewalk as they continue forward at a more leisurely pace and Lena is thankful for the moment of reprieve. 

“Can ya see ‘em?” Kara whispers and pulls the brim of her hat down over her eyes as if it’ll make a difference. It doesn’t. 

“I think they’re tailing us.” Lena quickly shoots a glance over her shoulder and spots both of their toothy grins, shoving and elbowing their way past the crowd to get to them. “They’re definitely behind us.”

Kara, making a split decision, drags a cursing Lena into the building to their immediate left, eyes darting around the room to scan their surroundings. She _should_ have paid attention to the women hanging out of the top floor windows outside, calling out to the men below. She _should_ have also noticed they were in the part of the city where folk like to come and take part in very specific nightly activities. 

Kara had unknowingly pulled them into a brothel. _It could be worse, I guess._

When she catches a glimpse of Lena’s fiery emeralds Kara concludes they didn’t quite share the same sentiment about their current situation.

The pair pushes past a few patrons as they walk up the large, winding staircase. The front lobby of the house is neatly decorated with well-crafted crown moldings and a beautiful red and gold wallpaper that covers most of the walls from what they can both see.

“Just when I think this night couldn’t get any worse,” Lena grumbles. The air is thick with smoke, reeks of booze and is stagnant with cheap perfume and she’s pretty sure she feels nauseous, although she isn’t certain if it’s from the physical exertion or the smells. Probably both.

Kara turns to her, an amused look on her face when she notices the way Lena inspects everything with complete and utter _disgust_. “What? Ya ain’t havin’ fun?”

One of the working girls, a beautiful redhead with entirely too much makeup on her face, most of it smudged, grips Kara’s forearm and stops her halfway up the way to the second floor. “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? I’ll make you a good price.” She leans forward, her lips brushing Kara’s ear and cobalt eyes grow wide at the words whispered to her in private. 

“Get your filthy hands off her!” Lena snarls and slaps the woman’s hand away, her glare jumping from the lady’s blasé and slightly smug grin to a chuckling Kara. 

“Sorry ma’am, maybe another time,” Kara calls out to redhead over her shoulder to further irritate Lena, who’s now dragging Kara up the rest of the steps.

Lena stops her furious pace to shove Kara against a wall between two bedroom doors. She would be lying if she said she isn’t enjoying the way Lena’s eyes cloud over; green both in color and jealousy. “You’re a real piece of work, Kara Danvers.” 

“And you need to learn to relax.” Kara goes to grab Lena’s waist but there’s a loud crash downstairs just as her words leave her mouth, followed by screaming — not the usual kind you’d hear in such an establishment. 

Lena rolls her eyes in frustration as if being chased and shot at was nothing but a mere inconvenience. “Shall we?” She lifts a brow, motioning to the two doors in front of them as if to say ‘take your pick, love’.

Kara moves to face one of them, holding her hat on her head as she picks a door at random and kicks it open with her boot. She’s not surprised to find one of the brothel’s ladies riding a paying customer with as much gusto as you’d expect. “Pardon the interruption folks! We won’t be here long, but ya might wanna keep ya heads down.” 

Lena ignores the sounds of skin slapping on skin and crosses the room quickly while Kara decides to idly chit chat with the room’s occupants. She throws the window open and climbs out onto the roof. “Kara!” She hisses, cranking the hammer back on her revolver and motioning for the blonde to hurry the hell up. 

“Hold your horses, I'm comin'.” Kara has one foot over the window still when a gunshot rings next to her head, the bullet piercing the wall next to her. “Hot damn!” 

Lena, cursing up a storm, frantically pulls Kara out of the window by grasping the front of her shirt and takes a few shots over Kara’s shoulder. The presumed bounty hunter ducks behind the wall next to the doorway to avoid the bullets. 

Kara clambers to her feet with a slight bounce and readjusts the hat on her head, the very same one Lena had gifted her months ago. Very succinctly, Lena wonders when exactly she fell for such a blubbering fool. 

“Thanks,” Kara breathes as they both take cover on either side of the window, weapons drawn and ready. 

“Try not to get your head blown off darling, I’m quite fond of it.” Lena lets her gaze roam over the rest of Kara’s evening attire and feels a shiver run down her spine at the way her dark and neatly creased slacks fit her body. 

“Just the head?” Kara inquires with a wink and regretfully takes her eyes off the red blouse, which was perfectly tailored to cling to Lena’s curves, to take a shot at their uninvited guest. 

“Well, there isn’t much else in it.” She says it as if pains her, but Kara hears the amusement in her tone. 

“Your words are like a sweet melody to my ears.” Kara peeks the window again and fires a shot at the right time, hitting the guy straight in the chest, and he goes down in the doorway. 

Lena looks over at Kara, amused by her words. _Someone has been reading my poetry books._

“Sorry again y’all, I hope the finish is worth it.” Kara tips her hat at them as if they would be in any mood to continue what they had been doing before they were so rudely interrupted. 

Lena finds herself laughing at the joke despite hating it with every fiber of her being.

Kara follows Lena as she moves ahead of her, their boots scuffling against the tiles noisily as they make their way across the roof. 

Dropping down from it, they land on a wooden balcony below and take off running across it when one of the hired guns sporting the lovely gash Kara had given him back at the saloon appears on the other end of it and punches Kara in the throat, knocking the wind out of her.

She stumbles backward, gripping the wooden guard rail as she fights to take in air with rapid and sharp inhales. “I guess,” Kara grunts and takes another painfully shallow breath, “I deserved that.” 

Lena reacts swiftly, spinning the revolver around in her hand and holding it upside as she retaliates with a punch of her own, the metal end of the revolver’s grip busting his cheek open (a nifty little trick Alex taught her). 

Kara is on him in an instant, her hands around his throat as she pushes him back into the balcony’s railing. “Good hit,” She tells Lena, her voice still rough. 

“Why thank you, Miss.” Lena stands next to Kara, breathing heavily as she drives the barrel of her gun against his forehead while he’s being questioned.

“Who are ya? A bounty hunter?” Her fingers flex squeeze tighter, cutting off the flow of blood to his carotid artery when he doesn’t answer. “I know ya got an answer for me! Spit it out boy, or we’ll just have to test 'n see if ya can survive that fall.” She nods her head at the ten feet of distance between the balcony and the ground. 

Surprising them both, he takes hold of Lena’s gun hand and presses down on her trigger finger with his thumb, blowing out his brains and sending a warm spray of blood on their faces, coating the front of their shirts and hands. 

Kara lets him slump at their feet, sighing heavily as she takes out a handkerchief from her back pocket and cleans the dripping blood off her face and hands.

“Bastard,” Lena sneers while she furiously wipes her revolver down, cursing as the blood drips and edges into every hard to reach place. 

“That was no bounty hunter.” Kara kicks the lifeless body, rolling him around on his back by pushing on his hip with her boot. His form is slumped half on the balcony and half pressed into the guard rail. 

Lena holsters the relatively clean weapon, wiping her hands as she and Kara both crouch down next to the body. “Perhaps he has something on him,” Lena mentions. 

“Nah,” Kara drawls as she riffles through his coat pockets. “Nothin’ here.” With a sigh, Kara pushes her hands down on her knees to stand. 

“We should go before—“

“Stop it right there, Danvers!” The Texas Ranger commands from his position down below. 

With Lena’s help, Kara flips the man’s limp frame over the railing and near the Ranger, who jumps back when the body impacts the ground below with a sickening crunch. “Heads up, Captain Hays!”

Lena lets out an annoyed groan. “He never quits, does he?” Their evening of running that started with Kara breaking a beer bottle over one of the bounty hunter’s heads — or whoever the hell they were — was not yet over. 

The Texas Rangers were another unfortunate enemy they made along the way, and they were far more driven and unrelenting compared to the U.S Marshals they encountered on the road. This particular one, Captain Jack Hays, had caught a whiff of their scent back in Beaumont and now possessed a singular interest for the pair and the Danvers gang.   
  
“Let’s loose this son of a bitch then.” Kara replies with a nod and a reassuring smile for Lena’s benefit. 

They take off in the opposite direction they came in, going around the building and once again, attempting to lose the Ranger by using the winding spaces of the alleyways.

“When I said I wanted to spend an evening with you...this isn’t quite...what I had in mind!” Lena shouts over the sound of their boots hitting the ground and her breathing coming out in rapid bursts. 

“That would sound a whole lot more convincin’...if ya weren’t smilin’!” Kara shouts back, just as winded. The material of her dress shirt sticks to her drenched back and Kara, once again, ruefully regrets her decision of moving them this far South-West of the great U.S of fucking A.

Lena doesn’t question how Kara knows she’s smiling when her back is to her, because she too can hear the grin on Kara’s face without seeing it. 

They run into a backyard, the owners are drinking by an open fire pit and one of them is playing a beautiful melody on a guitar. Mexican, from what Lena can tell. Animosity still lingered from the war over the Texas state line back in the ’60s, but for the most part, Houston didn’t harbor many racist idiots. 

Well, except the one currently chasing them 

“Ojo, ojo!” A woman yells at them as they both narrowly miss colliding with her. 

“Lo siento!” Lena apologizes, skidding around a corner and pushing forward with a slight grunt. They eventually run out of alley to hide in and emerge once more onto the busy streets. 

“Trolly comin' our way,” Kara suggests as she sees the car quickly approaching in their direction, the sounds of its warning bells ringing loudly. Kara hops onto it while it’s still in motion and holds out her hand for Lena, pulling her inside the crowded car. 

They collapse into an empty seat, grinning and snickering like mad fools while they ignore the strange looks they get from some of the folk aboard. They remain on the trolley for a good portion of its route, taking a much-needed breath and letting the Captain of the Rangers run around in circles trying to find them.

Four months have passed, making it a total of seven months since Lena left her cozy life to become an outlaw, which was still an unexpected development, but a welcome one to be sure. Despite her reluctance to believe it, somehow this way of life her like a glove.  
  
It was much more exciting than being forced to attend fancy dinners with rich assholes, having to feel the weight of Lillian’s disapproving stare on her all evening. Lena was sure she caught a murderous glint in her eyes a few times, that old wench. Not to mention, when they take time to help others in need, it was immensely rewarding. 

Summer slowly transitioned into fall, though the nights weren’t getting any colder. At least, not this far west. The gang had reached Texas a few weeks ago, moving from city to city like scavengers, seeking gold and money, occasionally helping out folks who were wronged by rival gangs. 

The bank job they did a month ago had them living comfortably for a while, and Houston was as good as any other place to dally about in. Filled with fancy hotels and inhabitants with bad gambling habits and even worse poker skills. Lena didn’t utter her protest when she cleaned them out one by one. 

Tonight, however, was _supposed_ to be about her and Kara. They were _supposed_ to have an evening to themselves and to enjoy each other’s company without the gang hovering around them. Not that she disliked them, quite the contrary, she loved each one very dearly.

She simply wanted Kara all for herself for a while. Though can’t say the night was a complete bust. They may have run into trouble, but the chase was exhilarating, leaving her wanting and desiring for something _more_ \- and it frightened her. 

She hadn’t let Kara touch her intimately yet, in spite of desperately craving such sweet and blissful moments with her. It was not for lack of trying, however, and the times they did attempt intimacy Kara’s fingers would dig into her hips and jolt dormant memories of Edge’s abuse. 

Kara was nothing if not patient and understanding and Lena hated herself for not being able to let go, for not being able to stop throwing fuel into the raging fires of her mind instead of letting Kara douse it with her gentle touch and loving gaze. 

Kara notices Lena’s somber mood and rouses her out of her thoughts with a softly spoken question. “Everythin’ alright? Ya got quiet there for a bit.” 

“I’m fine,” Lena reassures with a lie and the rest of the trip back to their hotel is spent in agonizing silence. Lena doesn’t know how to bring her the issue and Kara can’t figure out what the issue is.

They end their night in a warm bath, the gang had caved for more luxurious lodging and found a hotel where rooms were outfitted with their own personal baths and indoor plumbing. Lena didn’t have the heart to tell the excited outlaws that her house in New York featured an entire room dedicated to washing and relieving one’s self. 

This particular bath was encased in a wooden frame, placed against the wall opposite the bed. Lena is leaning forward on the edge of it, a book in her outstretched hand. Kara is sitting behind her, washing away the sweat and grime from their adventure throughout the city.

“So, tonight was excitin’,” Kara rasps, moving a hand covered in soap between Lena’s shoulder blades and rinsing it away with water from the bath. 

Lena is not all surprised that being shot at and running around the city was Kara’s idea of excitement, and she agrees wholeheartedly. She found out months ago that she shares a perhaps dangerous addiction to adrenaline highs much as Kara did.

Lena reads a few more sentences, the room is stark quiet other than the noise of water sloshing around the tub as Kara washes her back. “We could have died,” she states simply.

Kara snorts her indignation, “I wouldn’t have let that happen.”

Lena rolls her eyes, leisurely flipping to the next page. “You’re not bulletproof, Kara.”

Kara sits in quiet contemplation, watching her hands roam over Lena’s back as if it held all the answers. “Have ya ever seen me get shot?”

“Yes.” She, in fact, has seen Kara get shot in various places and listened to her grunt and curse as she dug the bullets out herself — the ones that didn’t go through and through.

They both laugh at that.

The rituals of courtship are still curious and unknown for most, the law classifying a man paying for a woman’s diner and buying her gifts as prostitution. The same activities between two women aren’t usually viewed as such, romantic involvement between two individuals of the same sex isn’t commonly recognized as something that’s desirable. Except, of course, to those with such preferences (much to everyone else’s ignorance).

New York was more lenient when it came to courtship and sexual freedom, Lena thinks. She had seen the birth of movements led by women claiming marriage to a man was nothing sexual slavery forced upon young women, and she was inclined to agree. 

Lillian had arranged her marriage to Edge the day she turned 18, but they only tied the proverbial knot three years later. Lena is now 24, soon to turn a year older, and still technically married in the state of New York. Although, Lena feels that she was freed of that bond regardless of what a piece of paper signed in her name says. 

“You’re quiet,” Kara repeats her earlier observation. 

Lena hums in agreement, she sounds relaxed. “I’m reading, darling,” She punctuates by flipping another page.

“Then put it down and talk to me.” Kara shifts forward in the slightest, inclining her head down and replacing her hands with her lips. She tastes the soap on Lena’s skin as they lightly graze Lena’s shoulder. The tension in the muscles alleviate and Kara takes it as a sign to continue, having been trained in the art of reading all of Lena’s non-verbal cues when it comes to touching her and respecting her boundaries. 

Lena closes her eyes, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in while Kara’s lips are working their magic and making her skin prickle in their wake. “Who knew outlaws required so much attention?” 

“If I’m bein’ honest,” Kara mumbles against Lena’s throat, “I just want yours.” 

Lena’s is starting to lose interest in her book as she melts under Kara’s soft mouth. “Ever the charmer, Miss Danvers,” She breathes out and bites back a moan when Kara’s tongue darts out and flicks the heated skin. 

“And you’re still here with me. I reckon I must be doin’ it right.” Kara smiles against her skin when Lena drops her head down to rest on the arm holding her book and giving her better access.

“Perhaps.” And perhaps they could give sex another try Lena muses silently, light-headed with desire. The book slips from her fingers and she barely hears the sound it makes when it hits the wooden floor. She grasps the edge of the bath, the water sloshes around dangerously close to spilling on the floor as she switches her position and turns to face Kara, straddling her lap as she had done so many times before. Never in this situation, however, and never when they were both fully naked and pressed together in ways that make her gasp.

Kara opens her mouth to speak though nothing comes out. She tries a second time after a quiet moment passes: “Lena?” It’s not much of a question at all but the woman in her arms understands the meaning of it. She’s asking Lena if she’s absolutely certain this is what she wants. 

Maybe Lena’s confidence is coming from the fact that they’re both sober at the moment, as all of Lena’s previous experiences with sex, both the several adulterous thirsts and her forced coupling with her husband, started with one drink and ended with too many. It was her way to numb her emotions and make it easier to get through, especially when she lay with Edge. 

This, right now, was a completely different situation. Lena is far from being intoxicated, and yet her head is swimming, heady with desire for Kara. She _wants_ to feel everything. So, she tells Kara exactly that. “I want you.” Lena settles in her lap more comfortably as Kara moves to accommodate her, blue eyes brimming with want and desire. Eyes that roam hungrily over every inch of Lena’s exposed skin.

The water is sitting just above her navel now, causing goosebumps to appear on the newly uncovered skin. Lena moves her hands to Kara's shoulders, trailing them down to her biceps, further past her forearms to take Kara’s hands in hers. Intertwining their fingers together, she guides Kara’s hands under the water and leaves them on her hips. 

“I want you to touch me.” Her hands drip with water as she brings them up to caress Kara’s rosy cheeks and presses her lips to the corner of Kara’s parted lips in what she hopes in encouragement. Kara remains still as if she’s unsure what to do or if Lena’s words hold any truth to them. 

Kara’s hesitation isn’t coming from a lack of trust but from the unnerving prospect of potentially making Lena do something she wasn’t quite ready for. But then Lena’s gripping the back of her neck, wetting the hair that had fallen from where it was pinned on her head, and whispering words that sends a jolt of electricity all the way down to her core. 

“I want to feel you everywhere.” This Lena’s her choice, her decision, and that made all the difference. She dips her head down, capturing Kara’s lips with her own in a kiss that’s unlike any they’ve shared — and they’ve kissed plenty over the last months. It’s needy and messy and filled with a promise of bliss and leaves them both dizzy when they part. 

Their lips are lightly touching as they breathe each other’s air and Kara is lost in Lena’s darkening emeralds. It makes her heart stutter to think the unabashed desire Lena holds is reserved for her.

“If you need me to - I’ll stop.” It wasn’t a perfect sentence, but she figures Lena got the gist of it when she nods and closes the distance between their mouths once more. 

Kara begins a slow exploration of Lena’s body, hands spread wide, her fingers grazing every inch of Lena’s skin as if she’s trying to map every dip and curve. She makes it her mission to find every spot that makes Lena writhe in her lap and gasp hot hair against her lips; committing every sound to memory. 

“Please,” Lena whines into Kara’s neck, shamelessly grinding herself against her toned stomach. Kara’s strong hands push on her hips, encouraging her movements and she moans against Kara’s skin. It’s not enough, she wants more. “Kara, please.” 

“What do you need?” Kara mutters against Lena’s temple, moving her hands around Lena’s hips and down to squeeze her ass, pushing Lena up in time with the jerky movement of her hips. Water sloshes around them and between their bodies and it feels cold when it drips down their warm skin. 

“You.” Lena reaches under the water to grip Kara’s wrist, taking her hand off of her backside and bringing it to the front in between their bodies. She needs Kara closer still, and so she begs for it against Kara’s jaw. “Inside.” 

Kara’s fingers are teasing at first, purposefully ignoring the sensitive and swollen nub begging for attention, as she slips her index down between the wet folds and back up until Lena is practically whimpering. 

“Kara,” the name spills out of Lena’s lips as a warning and a plea all at once. She takes hold of Kara’s other hand and brings it up to her chest, placing it over her breast and squeezing it.

Kara groans when the nipple instantly hardens against her palm. She gives in to the insistent demands and enters Lena with one finger, pushing it all the way up to her knuckle. 

Lena stills, inhaling sharply when Kara finally fills her up. She feels Kara stiffen under her, and fearing she’ll retreat, Lena begins moving against her hand, lifting her hips up and sinking herself down again. 

When Kara’s finger curls inside of her and hits a particularly squishy spot, Lena’s entire body flushes. Her hand grips the back of her neck tighter, her other hand clasping Kara’s shoulder, using it to brace herself as they start a slow rhythm. 

They kiss slow and deep, Kara setting the pace as she licks her way inside Lena’s mouth and slides her tongue against Lena’s. They both groan in tandem at the contact and Kara greedily swallows Lena’s moans when she thrusts into her a bit faster. 

“More,” she demands against Kara’s mouth, never fully breaking the kiss. 

Kara happily gives in, taking her finger out fully and slipping back inside with two, pushing them inside until she hits that spot again, her palm rubs against Lena’s sensitive nub in the same motion. 

Lena gasps and groans at the sensation, arching her back and rolling her hips, desperately seeking the same friction again. Her fingers skinking down into Kara’s skin with every movement she makes with her hips and every hard trust of Kara’s fingers inside of her. Water is definitely dripping on the floor now, but it goes woefully unnoticed by both women.

Kara trails kisses between Lena’s breasts and then her tongue is flicking around her nipple and Lena is drowning in pleasure, moaning Kara’s name loud enough that everyone on their floor will know who she is come morning. 

She moves her mouth to Lena’s neck, feeling the rapid thumping of Lena’s heartbeat when her teeth graze the skin below. She praises Lena in between kisses, grunting: ‘you look so fuckin’ hot ridin’ my fingers’ and Lena chokes out a wanton ‘more. Fuck, Kara, I need _more_ ’. Never one to deny Lena anything, Kara adds a third finger. With a few hard thrusts, her thumb fumbling over Lena’s clit, she comes with a sharp cry, pulsing around Kara’s fingers. 

Fire pools in the lower part of Lena’s abdomens and everything cuts to white noise in an instant. Slumping forward against Kara’s chest, her muscles still quivering, the first thought that crosses her mind is ‘I was a fool to wait this long’. She almost believes Kara read her thoughts when she feels lips press a kiss to her sweaty temple. 

Lena suddenly remembers her book and when she peeks over the edge of the tub to look at the state it’s in, she turns to Kara with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw.

Kara’s brow ceases at the daggers being shot her way. “What’d I do?”

“My book is ruined.” It takes everything in her power not to pout, Kara’s smug grin and raised eyebrow help with keeping the anger alive.

“And who’s fault is that?”

“You.” Lena leans down, placing her hand over Kara’s chest and giving her lips a quick peck. “It’s definitely—” Lena pauses to steal a second kiss, “your fault.”

“In that case, I accept the blame.” Kara beams sweetly, though her eyes are gleaming with mischief.

“Maybe there’s hope for you yet.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far.” 

They easily slip back into their usual banter, though Lena senses the change between them. The overwhelming evidence starting with how Kara’s eyes haven't left hers since and ending with the random patterns being drawn on her back. Lena definitely does not mind the sudden but welcome shift in their relationship.

There’s a distinct tenderness to Kara’s actions, something Lena had never experienced with her lovers before. Then again, there have been a lot of firsts when it comes to her relationship with Kara and she has the suspicion it won’t be the last. 

Lena stands up and steps out of the tub, chuckling at the pout Kara gives her. As she walks over to the bed, she throws Kara a look over her shoulder and there is not a shred innocence in the way green eyes roam over Kara’s body. “Well, are you going to join me or are you going to stare at my ass all night long?” Lena thinks it poetic, the way Kara hops over the bath and stumbles out as if the water suddenly turned scalding. 

She rolls her eyes when Kara stalks towards her with a goofy grin and a pair of wiggling eyebrows, laughing against Kara’s lips when she picks Lena up bridal style and drops her on the bed. 

If it was anyone else, Lena would have found the gesture unimaginative, and perhaps unwarranted, but this is Kara — and Kara always manages to make her aloof attitude intricately charming, _somehow_. 

When Kara settles on top of her, pushing her down into the mattress with the full weight of her body and Lena’s astonished to find she doesn’t feel trapped like she usually did. So, she parts her legs in a gesture that’s amenable, letting Kara lay comfortably between them. 

Their mouths meet again, it’s soft and unhurried and Lena’s safe, happily burrowed between the supple mattress and Kara’s hard body. Her hands tangle in the mass of golden hair, raking her fingers through it as she undoes the bun that was previously holding Kara’s hair up.

Kara’s laying kisses over Lena’s jaw, neck and collar bone, smiling against her skin as she does so. It’s comfortable, in a way that makes the word _love_ echo in Kara’s head. It’s brief, tinted with a hint of inevitability that was always at the back of her mind since Lena stumbled into her life.

Kara’s roused from her thoughts when Lena abruptly flips their position and finds herself on her back, staring up at Lena’s satisfied smirk. Kara only lets it happen because she’s distracted, of course. At least, that’s what she tells herself. Though, Kara doesn’t mind too much. She especially doesn’t mind the way Lena’s hands are tracing the curves on her stomach, going over her many scars and laying kissing along her throat.

Lena is surprised, pleasantly so, that Kara isn’t telling her to stop, or that she isn’t pretending that she doesn’t need Lena to return the favor, or even ask her something completely ridiculous like ‘are you okay with this?’ Considering she let Kara bring her to orgasm in the bath, mark Lena down as ‘more than okay with this’.

Lena’s kissing her way down Kara’s chest now, her tongue darting out to taste the mixture of sweat and soap on her skin, nipping at it teasingly on her way down. When she wraps her mouth around a hard nipple, her thumb rubbing the other, Kara makes a sound like a hum, low in her throat. 

“Don’t tease.” 

Lena pulls back, quirking a brow at the comment. Kara is staring right back, coolly as if she’s unaffected by it all — as if Lena’s mouth and tongue weren’t setting fire to every part of her they touched. 

Kara’s leaning back on her elbows, her eyes following Lena’s every movement and enjoying the attention. She may be quiet, but the eyes as blue as the ocean itself have a storm raging inside of them. Her face and chest are flushed, her pupils completely blown out, her breathing is uneven and it’s quite possibly the most beautiful thing Lena has ever laid her gaze upon. 

“You should know love, I don’t do well with instructions.” Lena teases when she finds her voice and leans forward to nip at Kara’s jaw. 

Kara lightly grips the back of Lena’s neck with her hand, squeezing gently and pulling back so she can hold Lena’s stare. “Take it slow if ya want,” she rasps in that low commanding tone that has Lena’s knees buckling, her desire coating her thighs, and it would be absolutely embarrassing if Kara wasn’t peering into her soul with unadulterated reverence; like Lena is the only thing worth looking at. 

Lena doesn’t feel like she’s in control any longer, realizing that Kara is simply relenting it, and it’s erotic in a way she would have never imagined. The rebellious part of she’d repressed for far too long is telling her she should tease Kara until she begs for it or until that smug grin of hers fades.

Lena starts slow, as per Kara’s instructions, sucking and licking every part of her she can reach on her way down, dragging her fingers along the ridges of Kara's ribs and the lines of her toned stomach. There’s the occasional bite in places Kara’s breath hitches, and Lena’s rewarded with a low groan. It makes her skin tingle and her touches become more bold and confident. 

Kara’s still leaning back on her elbows, staring down at Lena. One hand comes up a few times close to dark hair, only for her to let it fall back on the mattress again, the bedsheets clutched between her fingers.

Lena understands what she wants to do, so she momentarily halts her assault of kisses and bites on Kara’s inner thighs, ignoring the frown creasing Kara’s brow as she does so. Wordlessly, she takes Kara’s hand and guides it to the back of her head where the messy bun is barely hanging on. “It's okay you can do it,” she breathes. “I want you too.”

Kara nods, her fingers grasping a handful of raven hair and they learn a lot about each other in the next few instances. Kara files hair pulling under ‘things that make Lena moan’, while Lena discovers that rolling her tongue over Kara’s swollen nub is a sure-fire way to get her to drop the confident act and curse incoherently, like what Lena’s tongue is doing to her isn’t pure bliss. 

Lena uses her fingers to part the fleshy pink lips, trailing her tongue along the length of them. It’s both salty and sweet and Lena groans when she tastes Kara on her tongue for the first time. 

Kara lets out a whine, followed by a low grunt when Lena’s tongue dips down lower and continues to tease the sensitive flesh, her back arching off of the bed when Lena’s slowly circling her entrance. 

“So good,” Kara grunts, fingers lightly scraping against Lena’s scalp. “Lena — your mouth, so fuckin' _good_.” Her hips grinding upwards into Lena’s face, who moans against her skin at the praise she receives. She feels Lena’s hand is pressing down into her stomach to hold her down, and then her entire forearm. 

She ends her torturous teasing and fucks into Kara with her tongue and everything is a blur after that. Lena’s hands are everywhere, her lips wrapping around her clit and sucking greedily while her fingers are buried inside of Kara all the way up to the knuckle, curling inside until Kara groans her release. Shockwaves of pleasure crash through her entire body and for a few seconds all she feels is pleasure and Lena’s fingers helping Kara ride out her orgasm.

“Fuck,” Kara chuckles when she collapses back onto the bed, her stomach and thighs twitching as she’s slowly regaining her sense and getting her breathing under control. 

Lena crosses her arms over Kara’s stomach and rests her chin on her forearm. “Eloquent as always, darling.” She laughs, staring at Kara with a look of contentment.

“You know me,” Kara stretches her arms above her head and clasps her hands together behind her head. “I aim to please,” she replies with a wink.

“And on _that_ note,” Lena drawls, slowly crawling her way back up Kara’s body. “I’m not in a talking mood anymore.” 

“Tell me what ya in the mood for then.” Kara doesn’t give her the chance to answer as she flips them over and pins Lena to the mattress. Her golden locks spill forward, shielding them from the outside world as the air grows heavy with emotion the moment their laughter dies down and their eyes lock. Neither of them knows what words to use to accurately express what they’re feeling in the moment, so they kiss instead, hoping it’ll convey something deeper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Jack Hayes is not our Jack (or well, Lena's Jack), he just so happens to be an actual historical figure and one of the most prominent members of the Texas Rangers. I thought it would be cool to have our lovely ladies run into him.
> 
> It took me a while to write the lovemaking scenes, I didn't want to gloss over Lena's trauma, so I hope it doesn't seem too farfetched, and first-time dynamics are always interesting to write since there's a lot of exploration and learning. Also, I know people ain't too keen on time jumps but I did it on purpose and that purpose will be revealed later.


	5. Wicked Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara meets with an old acquaintance that has a big job for the gang. They learn troubling news about Lena's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all ever played Red Dead you'll recognize this robbery, though the way they do it is entirely different considering I felt like it would take a bit more planning.

**CHAPTER 5: WICKED GAMES**

**_Houston Texas, DeGeorge Hotel._ **

**_October 4th, 1899._ **

Kara stirs in her sleep, her brow creasing as sun rays peer through the blinds who’s material is not exactly opaque, much to Kara’s dismay. The hotel has indoor plumbing and yet they have the audacity to outfit rooms with blinds so threadbare they can’t keep the _fuckin’ sun out at the shit crack of dawn._

Grumbling quietly, Kara shifts on the bed only to notice she’s using Lena as a mattress more than the bed itself. Her body is half-draped on top of Lena’s smaller frame, her face pressed between bare shoulder blades and one hand trapped between Lena’s stomach and the mattress underneath. 

Maybe the morning wasn’t so bad after all, Kara ponders silently as she nuzzles Lena’s back and presses lazy kisses on the smooth skin. Lena responds and stirs with a groan of protest, along with some mumbling Kara can’t quite comprehend. She continues her relentless assault, and when she reaches Lena’s shoulder the woman abruptly turns on her back, her eyes are closed shut but there’s an unmistakable angry set to her eyebrows and jaw. Kara decides, at this very moment, that a grouchy and sleepy Lena is the loveliest sight in the world. 

Until Lena blindly attempts to cover Kara’s offending lips with her hand, but her fingers land across Kara’s nose and nearly poke her in the eye. 

Kara chuckles as she loosely clasps their hands together, bringing Lena’s hand close to her mouth and kissing the back of it. 

“Please stop,” Lena croaks, her voice roughened by her drowsy, half-awake state. Everything in her body _hurts_ and _throbs_. Her legs, from the soles of her feet to the very beginning of her thighs, are incredibly sore — no doubt from all the running they did the evening before — though there is a distinctive pleasurable ache between them. 

After a moment of relishing in the attention Kara is giving her, kissing her fingers one by one, Lena rolls fully onto her side to face her. They wrap themselves around each other, legs tangling, arms holding tightly, scooting and shuffling closer until no space remains between them. 

Lena pulls the bedsheet up to cover herself, while Kara stays mostly uncovered. Not that she could, seeing as Lena is a wicked blanket thief who keeps them all to herself. Kara didn’t mind, she’s always been a furnace that constantly burns without the need of firewood and Lena didn’t complain, Kara was like her own personal heater. Back in Louisiana, she would sneak in Kara’s tent and proclaim she couldn’t doze off just so she could fall asleep wrapped up in Kara’s warmth. Not one night between then and now has she woken up cold. 

The next time Kara wakes up that morning, her bleary eyes search for Lena once her hands fail to find her on the bed. She finds her sitting at the vanity next to the door, brushing the dark, matted hair. She’s also undeniably naked, Kara notices.

Lena catches the reflection of Kara moving on the bed in the mirror in front of her. “You’re finally awake, love.”

Kara sits up, one arm resting over a propped up leg. She pushes her hand through her hair, sweeping it to the left. “What time is it?”

“Nearly 8,” Lena responds. A slow grin graces her lips as her eyes roam over the strong and toned lines of Kara’s body; sun-kissed skin riddled with nicks and scars, though beautiful all the same. 

Kara falls back on the mattress with a huff, covering her face with a pillow. “Come back to bed.” Her voice comes out muffled and Lena chuckles softly. 

“I have a better idea.” Setting the brush down, Lena sits up, her silky raven hair falling over her left shoulder.

“Yeah?” Kara, perking up, throws the pillow off and leans back on her elbows. She makes no effort to hide the way she’s openly gawking Lena’s nude form. 

She settles herself on top of Kara, a position she has grown rather fond of in the last 12 hours. “You can braid my hair, and _then_ ,” Lena moves forward to kiss the shell of Kara’s ear. “I’d like to have breakfast.”

Kara makes no effort to hide her disappointment, hating and loving the way Lena’s smirking down at her. Nonetheless, she sits up against the headboard and lets Lena settle between her legs. With practiced movements, Kara twines the dark tresses into a neat French braid. 

They eventually get out of bed and get dressed to join everyone downstairs, but not before Kara ruins Lena’s braid with eager hands.

* * *

The gang is enjoying breakfast in the hotel’s garden courtyard. They’re huddling close, shoulder to shoulder to accommodate everyone around the fairly-sized round table. 

“Ya know I’m grateful for your cooking James, but this breakfast is somethin’ else.” Kara barely takes breaths between eagerly shoveling food into her mouth. 

Lena gives her an odd look, as if fairly common; Kara’s a very odd woman after all. “Pray tell what is so special about cornbread, boiled eggs, and sausage?”

Kara places a hand on Lena’s arm, eyes sincere as she pops another boiled egg into her mouth. She can barely speak around it but that fact doesn’t deter her from doing so. “‘Cause we didn’t have to hunt _or_ steal it.”

“Incredible,” Lena breathes, exasperated. The woman who had given her multiple orgasms last night was the same woman who is now trying to speak around a mouthful of hard-boiled egg.

Kara nods, happy that someone finally understands her. “I know.”

“No, darling, I meant that it’s _incredible_ how you can still speak with your mouth so...burdened.” 

Kara frowns but continues eating regardless. Food doesn’t give her false hopes. Food understands her. Food is her best friend. 

“Imagine us poor folk who've had to witness this horror for years.” James is laughing as he motions his hands towards the absolute carnage that is Kara devouring her plate. 

“How on earth did you manage?” Lena asks James, but the question is also directed at everyone else. 

“Hooch,” he responds with a shrug and they all nod in agreement. 

“Go on, make fun of me,” Kara waves them off and stuffs her face with a piece of cornbread that’s far too large while rolling her eyes. “But y’all know I’m right.”

Lena pats her cheek in a condescending manner she’s grown accustomed too and simply narrows her baby blues at Lena while chewing her food, silently contemplating starting a food war.

Winn clears his throat, tentatively moving forward in his seat. “Kara?” Her head snaps up to him, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched between bites. She looks like a wild animal huddling over the fresh game she just killed. “I may have found out who were the fellers that chased both of y’all last night.”

Kara eyes him suspiciously. “Do you sleep?” 

“Sure, I got some shut-eye, after you barged in on my bath,” he shoots back accusingly.

“She has a habit of doing that,” Lena chuckles wryly, “it’s not just you, Mister Schott.”

“Well,” Winn drawls, lifting his hands and face towards the sky, “thank the Lord above I ain’t the only one on this wretched earth that falls pray to our dear leader’s lack of concern for personal space!”

“Listen,” Kara rasps, not at all impressed with Winn’s overdramatic outburst that apparently has everyone at the table in stitches. “It was important,” she defends.

“You were correct in assumin’ they weren’t after Lena’s bounty,” Winn rolls his eyes at the smug grin on Kara’s lips. “They’re members of a gang called the Five Points, from New York,” he adds in a cautious tone.

Lena stiffens at the name. _That can’t be._ She looks around the table and isn’t surprised to find all eyes are on her. They may not have had higher education, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why a gang from New York would be looking for her. 

Alex’s eyes are quickly darting between her sister and Lena. She can see the silent communication in the meaningful looks and soft touches they share. “What aren’t you two tellin’ us?”

Kara’s eyes are apologetic, realizing that perhaps keeping this from the gang hadn't been her brightest idea. This was something Lena had told her in confidence, and it wasn’t hers to tell. “Alex, this ain’t really—”

“It’s quite alright, Kara, they have a right to know.” Lena takes a deep breath, encouraged by the gentle squeeze of Kara’s hand on her knee. “Seven months ago, as you all know, I left New York. What I kept from you all is that I was married — am still married — to a rich and powerful man who’s apparently sent a gang of murderers after me.”

“Holy fuckin’ hell Lena!” Alex shoots up in her seat, but Lucy tugs her back down, whispering harshly about keeping it down. “Do you understand the danger ya put us all in?”

Kara can’t blame her sister, she would have reacted the same way if Lena wouldn’t have been sick when she told her. 

“How the fuck was I supposed to know he’d come looking for me?” Lena snaps back. And though her tone is hushed it’s severely lacking gentleness. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Alex drawls, words dripping with sarcasm, “‘cause you’re his damn wife!” She spits between gritted teeth. Alex is far more hurt that Kara had lied to her than Lena keeping this from them.

“He doesn’t care for me! He never has. All he cares about is his damn business.”

“That doesn’t fuckin’ matter now,” Kara cuts in sharply, diffusing the standoff between her sister and her lover. “We need to get the hell out of here if this asshole has the Five Points in his back pocket.”

“Who’s he anyway?” James asks curiously. 

“Edge Morgan,” Lena replies, eyes downcast. 

“ _The_ Edge Morgan who owns the railroad companies?” Winn whispers-yells.

“ _A_ railroad company, not all of them. Dear God, could you imagine?” Lena chuckles, though it’s devoid of any humor. She couldn’t possibly imagine how gargantuan his ego would be if that were true. 

“What I can imagine us packin’ out shit and gettin’ our asses out of here,” Kara adds with a little more urgency this time. She had told Lena she wouldn’t let anyone hurt her again and she fully intended on making good on that promise.

“No!” Both Lena and Alex snap in unison. They share a look, something resembling understanding passes between them. 

“We stay and fight,” Alex adds calmly. She can tell by the way Kara’s eyes darken it isn’t a plan she’ll willingly agree with. 

“Are you two out of ya damn minds?” _Crazy women_. “I ain’t riskin’ anyone’s life to start a war.” _Might as well dig my own grave right now._

“You ain’t,” Alex reassures. “Kara, we know the city better than they do. We got the advantage. They won’t find us.”

“And for how long? These guys, Alex, they ain’t just like any regular gang we’ve ever gone against.” _Ya read the papers too ya damn fool._

“We’ll find a way. We always do.” It was hopeful and perhaps naive but Alex was growing weary of running all the time, and so was everyone else. She knew Kara was too. 

“And y’all okay with stayin’?” They all nod decisively. Winn looks slightly unsure, but family is family, and Lena was part of theirs now. 

Kara stands up abruptly rifling through her trouser’s pockets, unbeknownst to the curious stares thrown her way. “Where the hell is this damn thing—ah!” She pulls out a watch, her triumphant smile fading as soon as she notices the hand’s position. _Fuck._ “I gotta head out.”

“Head out?” Alex mutters incredulously. “We ain’t even decided what we’re gonna do about our _situation_ yet!” 

“We stay for now.” They have time on their side, and as much as Kara hates to admit it, her sister was right about them having home-field advantage. “I have to meet with someone.” 

“You have to meet someone,” Alex repeats, skepticism tinting her voice. 

“Yeah, a contact.”

“A contact.”

“For a job.”

“A job.”

Kara nearly yells in frustration. “Are ya gonna stop repeatin’ what I say at some point?”

“Just makin’ sure I have all the details right.”

“Annoyin’ little shit,” Kara growls and throws a tiny piece of cornbread at her sister’s face. 

“Don’t you two start,” Lena warns, sending them both her perfected menacing glare and Alex drops the boiled egg she had cocked and ready in her hand. Everyone is in awe of what just transpired but Lena is none the wiser. “Do you need backup?” She asks Kara, green eyes softening. 

“Nah, it ain’t that kind of social call.” Standing from her seat, she takes her hat from where it was hanging on the back of her chair and pulls it down over her head. 

“What if it becomes that kind of _social call_?”

Kara shrugs, reaching for the leather riding gloves in her back pocket. “We’re friends.” _And I trust her with my life._

Lena turns to Alex as if to stay ‘please tell her she’s being daft or I will’. Alex understands. 

“At least tell us where you’ll be, so if ya get your dumbass kidnapped we’ll know where to look first.”

Kara rolls her eyes at her sister, but she gives them the info regardless. The street is the right one, but not the building. She didn’t need them to know she was going to a doctor’s clinic that isn’t exactly in the public’s eye. “I’ll be a while. Lucy, can ya make sure these two shitkickers,” she lifts her chin towards Alex and Lena, “don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone?”

“Well, I don’t think I can promise that sweetie, but I’ll make sure they’re alive and have all their parts attached before you come back.” 

“S’what I like to hear! I especially like Miss Luthor’s parts,” she ignores the snickers and gagging sounds coming from Alex and tips her hat at them. “Later folks!”

Kara gently coos Thumper as she takes hold of her reins from where she hitched next to Bear and hops up in the animal’s saddle. Together they ride halfway across the city into a mostly commercial district. The buildings are high and the sidewalks busy with street vendors and folk enjoying a day out and about. 

Reaching her destination, Kara ties Thumper’s reins on a metal post, feeding her a few carrots before she leaves the horse alone again. “See ya later, girl. Be good now.” Kara follows a path behind the over occupied market and enters an unmarked building. 

Once inside, she takes the wooden staircase that leads her up to the second floor and to another door. This one has a glass window and lettering that reads ‘Dr. Arias Private Medical Clinic’. 

Turning the squeaky doorknob in her gloved hand, Kara crosses the threshold into a small waiting area with mostly empty chairs. There’s a fellow there with what Kara assumes is a gunshot wound to his thigh and a very purple and blue face.

She walks up to the counter on the right, that faces the chairs lined up against the back wall, and rests one arm onto it.

“Do you have an appointment, Miss?” A small blonde greets Kara with a sweet voice and a large smile. 

“Somethin’ like that. Kara Danvers, I’m here to see the Doctor.” 

The blonde seems to recognize the name as she flips through the doctor’s appointment ledger. “He’ll be right with you, Miss. Have a seat and he’ll call you to his office shortly.” 

Kara tips her hat at the woman, wondering why they have to use male pronouns in the secrecy of the room they were in. If someone would somehow accidentally find this place, they would usually be turned around and directed to another clinic. And if a person had an appointment with Dr. Arias, they knew the deal.

Kara sits two chairs over from the bleeding fellow who grunts a ‘hello’, lifting his chin in her direction.

“Miss Danvers,” a distinctively feminine voice calls out from a door adjacent to the waiting area. There’s a nameplate on the simple wooden frame, ‘Dr. Arias’, it reads.

“Are ya fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” The man grumbles, the nasal voice clearly caused by his broken nose. 

“Ladies first,” Kara teases with a sly wink as she crosses the room. She’s pretty certain she hears him mumble something about her being ‘no damn lady’. She can’t argue with that. Kara Danvers was no lady. Not a _proper_ one, at least.

“Good day, _sir._ ” Kara punctuates with a chuckle once she walks into the doctor’s office and she closes the door behind them. 

“Never thought I’d see you this far West, _cowboy_.” Sam’s dark hair is loose around her shoulders. Her long, lanky legs are covered in finely tailored pants. She’s wearing a white dress shirt rolled up at the sleeves as she washes her hand in the sink situated at the back of the room.

There’s a single gurney in the middle of the room and several shelves and windowed cabinets that line the walls. There’s a reclining chair closest to the sink, and a small stool sitting next to it.

“Me either.” When Winn told Kara one of his contacts said there was a medical clinic with a lady doctor for folks like them, folks that work outside the law, she immediately knew who she’d find managing the clinic. “Well, did ya miss me or not?”

When Sam turns to her, they share a soft smile. “Yes, and I hate it more than words can even express.”

Kara snorts, _she sounds like Lena_. They had met years back in Tennessee. Sam and her husband had a medical clinic just like this one, and he had been teaching her the ropes on the account that he was dying from TB, the poor feller. Women couldn’t practice medicine, so Sam had to be discreet about who she treated and how she went about it.

Maggie had brought Kara to the clinic when a job went wrong. They robbed a coach that was heavily guarded and the information Winn was given was wrong. Kara was hurt, bleeding internally from a broken rib. She would have died if not for Sam saving her life. She and Maggie had agreed to never tell Alex.

What Sam was doing wasn’t bad per se, but to the law it was. She did the best she could to support her daughter after her husband passed. A lot of crooks came around her clinic, and though Sam relayed most of the info to the authorities under her husband’s name, once in a while something particular fell into her lap; something that required folk who worked outside of the law.

“Sit,” pats the arm of the recliner chair as she takes the stool next to it. “Tell me where it hurts,” Sam delivers with a confident tone and a toothy grin.

Kara sheds her riding gloves and places her hand on the middle of her upper chest. “My heart.”

Sam smiles again, eyes downcast for a moment before she lets herself truly look at Kara and how she’s changed over the years. The one constant being the blue eyes that never lost their bright and beautiful color. “When did the pain start?” Sam plays along and leans forward, gently covering Kara’s hand with her own. 

“When ya left me.”

The statement is heavier than both of them had anticipated. Kara had let herself care for Sam, a long time ago, and perhaps there was a part of her that never forgave the Doctor for leaving. It wasn’t entirely Sam’s fault, mostly shitty circumstances that Kara’s long grown accustomed to, but it hurt nonetheless. 

Sam curses inwardly for the blush she lets creep up her cheeks at the memory of Kara and the things they shared. “I see. I believe the issue is you have a severe case of overdramatizing past events.” It’s nowhere near an apology, but the serious tone in which it's delivered is good enough for Kara.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to dig up old hurt feelings anyways, Kara decides. So, she replies with something that doesn’t quite convey forgiveness, but to Sam it does. “Sounds serious, Doc. Can ya cure it?” 

Sam pretends to look distraught but it doesn’t quite work seeing as there’s an amused grin on her face. “Unfortunately, no.” 

Kara doesn’t fare much better, the jig is up when her lips curl into a smile that makes her eyes crinkle. “How long do I have then?”

“Well, that depends on you,” Sam chuckles with a wink.

There’s a brief awkward moment when Sam realizes she’s still holding Kara’s hand. She lets go fo it abruptly, and Kara stares at her with a wry smile. “So, what’s this job ya got for me?”

“I had this patient come in the other day, handsome and rich.”

“I ain’t lookin’ for a husband if that’s what you’re gettin’ at.”

Sam narrows her eyes when the joke doesn’t land like Kara wanted it too. Kara is all too aware that the severe set to Sam’s eyebrows means ‘shut your mouth and let me talk’. She does, reluctantly. “Lucky you, he was a very talkative feller, _after_ he came too. I believe he said something about owning a very large gambling ship.” She throws a neatly folded letter onto Kara’s lap with a raised eyebrow.

Sighing, and not at all trusting this patient of hers, Kara flips the letter open with one last frugal glance at Sam before skimming through it rapidly. It’s a formal, and rather impersonal, invitation to said gambling ship in five days from now.

Kara’s even more distrustful now as she hands Sam the letter, holding it loosely between two fingers. “Ya treat the guy and he gives you an invitation to his fancy gamblin’ boat? Somethin’ don’t seem right, Sam.” 

“He was extremely sick, _and_ I saved his life thanks to my great skills as a physician,” Sam defends with a noble raise of her chin.

“Sam, this job is gonna get us both the noose and you know it.” _What is it with me and crazy women who love danger?_ Kara decides it’s probably because she too, is a crazy woman who loves danger. Craves it even. 

“Maybe if we do it the cowboy way and go in guns blazing. But you’re the expert on ‘borrowing’ things discreetly, are you not? I didn’t call for here you because I missed those pretty eyes.”

Kara snorts at the deceptively flirtatious comment. “I know a few people who could help us if you’re really serious about doin’ this.” Kara can already see the protest forming on Sam’s lips at the mention of involving others. There was no way they could do this alone, and Sam was smart enough to understand that. “I trust them, and you have my word that they ain’t ever gonna talk about what you do here.”

After a long moment of silently pondering, Sam asks: “Is Maggie still with you?” 

“Nah, she left us a letter and packed her things in the middle of the night before we crossed the Texas state line.” Kara could tell Alex took it hard and is still taking it hard, but she won’t talk about it and Kara isn’t one to push. Especially not her sister.

“I want to meet them before I agree to anything,” Sam says after a few moment’s hesitations.

As it’s a fair request, Kara nods as Sam scribbles down an address and a time on a piece of paper. Kara slips it into her trouser’s back pocket as she jumps up from her seat with renewed energy. Sam opens the door for her, an unreadable expression on her face. “See ya ‘round, Doc. Thanks for the _medicine_.” Kara pulls the brim of her hat down in parting. 

“Take care of yourself, Miss Danvers. Cut down on those sugary sodas.” She adds knowingly. Kara pretends she doesn’t hear her. 

_Well shit, this is gonna be great._ Kara simply _cannot_ wait until Lena meets Sam, her narrated thoughts being entirely sarcastic here. Kara actually dreads it more than possibly taking her dying breath by attempting to rob a rich man’s luxury cruise ship.

The gang certainly didn’t need the attention if it goes wrong, especially not when the Five Points are looking for Lena. Though, if they planned this job well they would be set for months, maybe even a year, and they could leave the country and lay low; live simpler and easier lives. 

It was a nice dream. Perhaps lacking in the realism department and naive at heart, but Kara needed something to believe in. Something other than living one job at a time and hoping, praying to God that no one would starve, get caught by the law, or meet their end in a shootout. If they pull this off, then maybe they could _all_ get a chance at a fresh start. 

When Kara rides back to the hotel, she doesn’t think of spending the rest of her life on a ranch she would buy with Lena, as that would be completely and utterly foolish. She doesn’t smile at the thought of how she’d fix their fence while Lena would tend to the horses. And Kara, by no means, does she imagine how it would be to wake up to already brewed coffee and Lena sitting on the porch outside reading one of the poetry books she loves so. 

The ride back to the hotel is decidedly short.

* * *

**_Houston Texas, Gulf of Mexico aboard the Jewel of the Seas cruise ship._ **

**_October 9th, 1899._ **

“What’ll you have, Miss?” Kara asks Lena behind the circular bar near the poker tables, a towel thrown over her shoulder and her hands splayed on the counter in front of her. She was wearing a crisp, white apron over a black undershirt and black pin-striped slacks. The interior of the boat is as lavishly decorated as one would expect. Large white columns, plush red carpets, and golden trims all around. 

Lena, a devilish grin on her angelic face, crosses one leg over the other as she takes a seat in one of the bar stools. Green eyes are fixated on blue ones as she speaks. “My mother always told me that a lady should be wary of handsome strangers offering her a drink.” Lena’s thoughts delve into the inappropriate, and if she’s thinking that Kara is a tall glass of water she wants to be quenched by, she blames it on the elegant but simple curls of golden hair framing Kara’s wind-swept face in a way that’s feminine and yet devastatingly handsome. 

Kara glances around them briefly before her eyes latch onto the revealing evening wear that’s making it hard for her to concentrate on anything else but the swell of Lena’s breast and the enticing curve of her hips. “And what does your mother say about gorgeous women wearin’ such provocative clothin’?”

“That they’re as wicked as they seem, love.” Crimson red lips curl up into a smirk when Kara’s eyes darken and snap down to her mouth.

“Excuse me, Miss Morgan?” A rotund man with heavy brows and heavier mutton chops approaches the pair, unknowingly interrupting a very intimate exchange. “Is the new bartender being a bother?”

“Of course not, she’s very talented.” Lena’s letting her hand roam on Kara’s forearm in a way that would be completely inappropriate if not for the way she’s pretending to be heavily intoxicated. And Lena plays the drunk lady well, too well, in Kara’s humble opinion.

“Well, it is most uncommon for a woman to do such work, but I’m certainly glad to hear Miss Mitchell is taking care of things here.” 

When the usual bartender fell unexpectedly sick, Sam having everything to do with it, Lena used her husband’s name to secure Kara the job. The exact words used were: ‘if my husband trusts her enough to be my personal security detail in his absence, wouldn’t you think he’d be offended if you didn’t want her to mix drinks on your fairly _small_ boat?’ Mentioning the size of the vessel was definitely a low blow that Kara _felt_ by watching the man’s face deflate into an angry frown. One that was quickly replaced with a fake smile as he agreed.

“I assure you, I’m extremely satisfied with her performance.” Lena lays it on thick and the man is still completely ignorant of the way goosebumps appear on Kara’s arm where Lena’s hand was. 

Kara’s breathing increases slightly as she imagines wiping off the red lipstick from Lena’s lips with frantic kisses.

“Good evening to you then, Miss Morgan.”

The moment he turns to leave them alone Lena forces out a mock gag. “I never thought I’d hear someone use that dreadful name next to mine ever again.”

Kara’s eyes are apologetic and Lena waves her off. 

“Alex sent me to say the pigeons are ready to fly.”

With the coded signal that everything is set and they’re ready to rock, as it were, the next few moments unfold exactly as the gang had planned days prior.

Lena follows Sam from a distance to the lower deck where Mr. Bennett, the ship's owner, keeps his valuables and where the safe is also located. 

They breach the room, ‘breach’ being a rudimentary term, in this case, seeing as Sam stumbles and bursts through the door of the guarded room pretending to be drunk off her wits. 

Lena exclaims her frustration about having to run all over the ship to find her friend, profusely apologizing to the puzzled guards. Sam throws most of her body weight on Lena, who is biting her tongue from saying something that would break character, such as ‘cut the shit Arias, and get your hand off my ass!’ 

It didn’t matter where Sam’s fake-drunk hands roamed on her body, because Alex and Kara sneak up behind the guards moments later, kicking the back of their knees and wrapping their arms around their throat in a tight chokehold until they pass out. 

Mikey, who had parked a rowboat next to the gigantic cruise ship, enters the room with the tool Lena had crafted to pop open the door’s safe like a wanton mistress’ legs begging for attention. 

The safe is drilled into, silently, and Mikey robs it of its virtue as he stuffs nearly ten thousand dollar’s worth of bills into satchels that he then hands to the ladies one by one. Kara hastily changes out of the bartender get up and into the clothes Mikey had brought for her (everyone but Alex sneaks a few glances because how could they not?).

Once they’re done, the gang hops in the rowboat, satchels of cash on their shoulders. Alex helps Sam down from the rope ladder, one non-drunken had precariously perched on the curve of Sam’s hip. “Welcome aboard, Miss. I’ll be your captain for the day. Take a seat and enjoy the ride.” She caps off with a wink and pretends to pull down the brim of a hat that isn’t there. 

Kara snorts, Lena cackles and Mikey rolls his eyes. 

Sam’s introduction to the gang had gone well enough. She and Lena immediately took a liking to each other, and much to her surprise so did her sister. She’d never tell Alex about the history between her and Sam as some things were better left unsaid. 

“Are all Danvers women so charming?” Sam demands even though she’s already made up her mind on the answer. 

“Yes.” 

“No”

Lena and Mikey’s overlapping answers share very different sentiments. 

When the women all stare at him pointedly he explains: “They real pretty until they open up their mouths, then they’re real sons of bi—Ow!”

Alex slaps him behind the head. 

“Shut your damn mouth and row,” Kara barks, as she grasps the pair of paddles on either side of her seat. 

“I’m rowin’!” He defends, incredulous. He’s facing Kara, glaring across the way while they time their strokes in sync with each other. 

“Do it faster.” Kara bites back. 

“Y’all real lucky to have a man like me around ‘n one day you’ll see that ‘n treat me right.”

“You’re real lucky to be _alive_. Now shut the hell up and row with me or I’ll throw your ass overboard.”

“See what I mean?” He looks at Sam with a pained expression as if demanding sympathy, his next words making it hard to do so. “ _Real_ sons of bitches.” 

Kara grunts as she strokes against the waves the cruise ship is making. 

Alex sighs like a mother weary of her children’s bickering. 

Lena ignores the way Kara’s flexing muscles affect her. 

Sam is not entirely certain how these folk have yet to be caught by the law and how they’re still alive. Luck, she presumes.

And what a wicked game it was.

* * *

Later that night, the gang is celebrating the monumental take at the hotel’s bar. 

“I can’t believe how well that went,” Lena gushes, leaning into Kara’s shoulder as they wait for their drinks. The rest of the gang are seated at a table at the opposite end of the room and the pair could clearly hear their boisterous voices carrying all the way to the bar.

“Sure,” _for now. Ain’t nothin’ in this world that’s ever that easy._

“What seems to be the matter, Kara?” Lena wants to kiss her way from that tense neck to her strong jaw, and though it would be completely inappropriate to do so in public, the prospect of these drunken fools knowing who Kara lays with her at night thrilled her immensely. “You seem a bit out of sorts tonight,” Lena observes warily. 

“Just a little worried is all. We’re sittin’ on 10 big _pigeons_ .” _And I ain’t used to doin’ this without Maggie._

“What can I do?” Lena licks her lips and Kara follows the movement with eyes with unabashed hunger. Lena hadn’t done it on purpose, the suggestiveness of her question and the way Kara’s eyes bore into hers had gotten her mouth suddenly dry as the desert that surrounds them. 

Kara takes a sip of her beer, her eyes catching Lena’s arched brow. A silent question is asked and Kara’s slow grin is the answer. 

They end up in the courtyard, near a wooden shack used by the hotel’s garden workers. Lena had pinned the taller woman against the wall, pressing herself in her body and teasingly rubbing her hand over Kara’s pants. Lena helps her _relax_ a few times. It’s quick and rough on account of their public location. 

Lena’s never done anything like this with a lover and Kara certainly does not disappoint in proving how exhilarating it can be — much like everything else the outlaw does. 

The hotel’s gardens are truly beautiful up close, the large plants that surround the pair offer intimacy even though they aren’t the only ones in the courtyard on this warm fall evening. So, when Kara switches their positions and presses her thigh in between Lena’s legs, she leans in and whispers against her ear: “can you be quiet for me?” 

Lena bites her lip and nods, her head rolling back against the wall as she grinds herself down on Kara’s muscular thigh. 

Kara’s lips latch onto Lena’s neck almost instantly as she hurriedly undoes the button on the front of Lena’s pants, shoving her hand inside. 

Her fingers dip down into Lena’s already wet center and Lena bites back a moan that sounds like a whimper. Her mouth is instantly covered with Kara’s hands as she realizes she could hold her promise to keep quiet when large and deft fingers curl into her, pushing against that spot that makes her knees buckle. 

It takes all of Kara’s willpower not to marvel at how wet Lena is aloud, or to teasingly chide her about not being able to keep quiet when she groans loudly against Kara’s palm. 

Kara removes her hand and replaces it with her mouth in favor of hiking one of Lena’s legs against her hip, this angle isn’t very easy to work with from the start and the now wider stance Lena adopts helps. Somewhat.

Lena is curving one hand around Kara’s ass, pushing their bodies closer together — something she’d learned a few nights ago, into their fourth or fifth round, that Kara absolutely loved. She’s groaning into Lena’s mouth now and Lena’s absolutely drenched, quickly coming undone as she grinds herself against Kara’s hand; stoking the fire igniting in the pit of her lower abdomen. 

With very little room to maneuver inside the confines of Lena’s pants, Kara still manages to push in two fingers and thrust inside of Lena at a pace that wasn’t meant to draw out her pleasure. It’s fast and furious and when she nips at Lena’s jaw and rubs circles over her clit with her thumb, Lena cries her release into her mouth. 

They’re both laughing as they sneak their way into the greenhouse, Lena’s head is resting on Kara’s shoulder as they walk hand in hand through the rows of various plants. Lena names most of them, even in the darkness. 

“Feeling relaxed yet, love?” Lena asks as she turns to Kara with an easy smile — the kind that sets an unquenchable fire to Kara’s skin. When Lena steps into the moonlight filtering through certain areas of the greenhouse, it illuminates the flecks of yellow in her eyes that swirl around like liquid gold, making them shine.

Kara answers with a deep kiss that they both sigh into. She’s still very much troubled by the fact that Lena’s husband hired one of the most notoriously ruthless gangs to find his wife, but when Lena kisses her slowly as if time is nothing but a mere concept, Kara decides she’ll worry about it tomorrow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was making Sam and Kara a thing in the past too much? IDK, I was writing and it just happened. So I let it. 
> 
> If you feel some type of way about this, come yell at me here: https://sups-in-my-corp.tumblr.com/


	6. Won't Go Down Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Kara catch themselves a big one and then, so does Morgan Edge.

**CHAPTER 6: Won't Go Down Easy**

**_Houston Texas, somewhere along the Buffalo Bayou River._ **

**_October 16th, 1899._ **

A week has passed since the cruise ship robbery and thanks to the weather changing from hellishly hot to almost bearable, Alex and Kara have decided to treat the women to a day of fishing while Winn and James make a much-needed trip to the local barber. 

Lucy protested heavily, claiming that she would rather go galavant around town with the men. Kara had asked Lucy when she had grown a beard that needed trimming and Alex joked that ‘maybe there’s somethin’ else she needs shavin’’. Everyone who laughed received a slap behind the head, courtesy of Lucy herself. 

(‘everyone’ being Alex and Kara). 

Kara had expressed how ‘even if we’re rich folk now, we can still fish like the _lower class_ ’ with every bit of a dignified accent that she could muster, which wasn’t that refined, to begin with. Lena had laughed and told her that was exactly how most of the folk her husband hung around behaved and viewed those with lower social statuses.

But right now Lena, Sam, and Lucy are taking advantage of the shade the tree they’re reclining against is providing for them, while the two sisters are getting cooked under the sun’s rays, standing on the edge of the river where grass meets sparkling water. 

“How you holdin’ up?” Kara didn’t want to pry but seeing as they had a quiet moment to themselves it wouldn’t hurt to ask. She casts her line out into the water, the lure dropping with a satisfying _sploosh_. She’s giving Alex the time to answer her or to ignore the question altogether. 

“Whad’ya mean?” Alex casts a sideways glance at her sister, shifting her weight while she slowly reels her line back in. 

Kara rolls her eyes at the predictable, if not infuriating answer. “Ya know what I mean, Alex.” 

Alex presses her lips in a tight line, her eyes fixated on the gentle ripples of the water’s surface. It’s quiet for a while, and Alex lets herself relax by taking in the beautiful scenery and the peaceful sounds of nature around them. “I just don’t get what I did.” 

“I don’t think you did nothin’ wrong. She said in the letter that—“

“—That she needed to take care of some personal business, I know,” Alex says with a sigh. “But I still feel like I messed up somewhere. I mean, why didn’t she say goodbye. To me?” She turns her head towards Kara now, her eyes are mostly hidden under the brim of her hat. 

“Some people find it harder to leave if they do,” Kara shrugs, reeling in her line fully and cursing under her breath when she notices a sneaky fish was able to gobble the bait without tugging on her line and getting hooked. _Little shit._ “Ain’t no folk the same.”

“I just wish she would have told us, and maybe—maybe we could have helped her with whatever it is she needed to do.” Alex didn’t hold any resentment towards Maggie’s actions, she just wished she knew the reasons why she didn’t at least talk to _her_ before splitting. 

“Or, maybe she knew we would have offered to help ‘n she wanted to do it alone.”

“It ain’t no reason to leave without sayin’ a damn word.” Perhaps Alex held a tiny amount of resentment. 

“Still, it wasn’t your fault.” 

“I know that—shit, I got something on the line, Kara.” Alex feels a hard tug, her line being pulled further into the water. She holds onto the reel handle to keep it from coming undone, though it doesn’t make much of a difference. 

“Reel that baby in then.” Kara doesn’t bother recasting as she watches Alex’s pole curve dangerously close to breaking. 

“Stubborn little shit I got on my hook,” Alex speaks her annoyance through gritted teeth, reeling rapidly only for the fish to pull further away again. She could tell by the way it tugged and struggled against the hook that it was no regular-sized catch. 

“Ya might wanna cut the line. Your pole’s gonna snap,” Kara warns coolly, observing as it bent more and more while Alex pulls it up to reel the sucker in quicker. 

“Hell no. It’s hooked, it’s mine,” Alex replies with grit and determination that doesn't match her weak rod’s sturdiness. 

Kara nudges her hat up to scratch her forehead, eyes squinting as the sun beats down on her face. “Maybe ya got the lure caught in a tree, or under a rock or somethin’.” 

“I can feel it, Kara, it ain’t stuck.” Alex lets out a grunt as she takes a few steps back, pulling her rod upwards when the fish attempts to make a run for it with the bait in its mouth. 

“Cut the damn line, Alex!” Kara urges, taking a step closer to the water's edge to try and get a glimpse of whatever creature had hooked itself on Alex’s pole. 

“Will you shut up and help me?”

Despite knowing the rod wouldn’t last much longer, Kara rushes next to Alex and grabs hold of the line with both hands. “When I pull, you reel. Ready?” 

When Alex nods, Kara switches between her left and right hand to tug on the line and drag the fish closer towards the edge. 

“How big is this bastard!” Alex yells, leaning back and setting the handle of the rod against her hip, digging her heels in the ground.

Kara grunts with another hard yank, her eyes wide when they land in the very large and very angry Muskie desperately trying to swim away from the edge, Its tail splashing water onto them. “That ain’t no fish, it’s a damn monster!” 

The fishing line is digging painfully into Kara’s hands but she doesn’t let up. They both take steps backward together and manage to yank the large beast onto the grass. 

“Would you look at that,” Alex marvels at the length and girth of the fish lying at their feet, looking as exhausted as they both feel. Its mouth is open, gills twitching. “That thing must weigh close to twenty pounds.” 

“Well,” Kara drawls, throwing her arm around Alex’s shoulders, “it's gonna take me a while to outdo that nice catch.”

Kara helps Alex carry the hefty Muskie to where the women are lounging under the tree. All three of them look up, staring at the two sisters like they’re the biggest buffoons on this planet. 

“You ladies hungry?” Alex asks with a wide grin and resists the urge to drop the fish in their laps. One glance at her sister tells Alex that Kara had a similar idea. They both decide it’s best not too. 

Lena lifts an eyebrow as her eyes scan the large fish. “Not particularly.” It’s not that she doesn’t like fish, it’s just that she doesn’t trust that thing is actually a fish and not some kind of monster that will devour them instead. 

“Are you sure we can eat that?” Lucy asks warily.

“It’s a fish,” Kara states easily, “fish are meant to be eaten. Now get to work ladies!” She exclaims with glee, clapping her hands together. “Start the fire.” 

“Please do _that_ further away," Lena waves her hand in front of her, "I don’t want to stink of fish all day long,” Lena grumbles when Kara pulls out her knife and presses the tip of the blade against the Muskie’s bloated stomach. 

“Yes ma’am!” With Alex’s help, they move closer to the water’s edge so they can dump the fish’s innards when they clean it out and cut the fillets. 

“You trained her well,” Sam observes once the sisters are out of earshot, no doubt arguing about the best method to fillet a fish this size. 

“I did no such thing.” But she chuckles nonetheless, after failing to suppress a grin.

“She listens to you,” Sam points out. She hasn’t been with them for that long, but she knows Kara; She’s always been a hothead that acts before she thinks.

“And I listen to her when I need to,” Lena counters, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. 

Sam raises both of her eyebrows, popping a fruit in her mouth. “I’m sure you listen to all of Kara’s _demands_.” 

“Oh, I’ll bet she _loves_ following those,” Lucy chimes in with a laugh. 

Lena huffs, turning away from them to hide the blush heating up her face. “Will both of you stop acting like children? What Kara and I do isn't any of your business.” Frankly, Lena wanted nothing more but to explain, in great detail, everything Kara can do with those large hands of hers, but perhaps this isn't the right time to be smug about her sexual endeavors. Especially when the object of her affection and her sister are standing a few feet away from them. 

“She isn’t good for you, you know.” Sam isn’t stating this will ill-intent, she’s simply stating a well-known fact.

“Neither am I,” _and isn’t that the reason we’re perfect for each other?_ Lena watches Kara, hands deep in a fish’s stomach, and smiles softly. It grows wider once Kara glances her way and winks.

 _Definitely no good for me,_ Lena thinks wistfully, her chest filling up with a cozy warmth like a blanket wrapping snuggly around her shoulders and keeping her safe. 

They put aside enough fillets to feed all five of them, while the rest are neatly stacked onto a cloth, tied with a leather string, and stuffed in one of the satchels in Alex’s mount to be sold later.

Lena recoils from Kara when she slumps to her knees beside her and moves to wrap her arms around Lena. A frown forms on Kara’s face, a pout jutting out her bottom lip when Lena’s hand presses into her chest to push her further away. “You really believe that I’ll let you touch me with those filthy hands, Miss Danvers?”

Kara rolls her eyes, shoulders deflating as she turns around, muttering under her breath about city girls not being grateful for the lunch they caught. Kara dutifully ignores Alex when she makes a comment about her being held on a short leash or something to that effect. 

_Ugh, women,_ Kara groans inwardly as her knees sink into the damp grass, though there’s a distinctive smile on her lips as she cleans her hands in the clear river water. 

***

The next day, Kara is supposed to meet Sam at her clinic, but when she finds the door ajar and signs of forced entry by the way the wood around the door flame is splintered, her blood runs cold.

Slowly, she pulls her revolver out of its holster and cranks the hammer back. Her footsteps are slow and deliberate as she walks forward into the waiting area, her weight making the floorboards creak, each step causing her heart to thud faster in her chest. 

She finds nothing other than the young receptionist’s lifeless body still sitting in her chair. Her head is slumped forward, the entry bullet wound between her eyes and the blood spray coating the wall behind her is evidence of a gruesome murder. 

_She had no time to react_ , Kara thinks solemnly. “Aw hell, ya didn’t deserve this.” The body isn’t giving off an awful odor, meaning it must have happened very recently.

When realization dawns on her, Kara sprints through the small clinic and bursts into Sam’s office, shoulder first. Inside, everything is trashed: spilled medicine on the floor, files containing patient notes scattered across the floor. No blood and no body. Kara lets out a shuddering breath and holsters her weapon. 

About a million questions enter her mind and most of them are left answered. Who did this and why? If it was the cruise ship owner, how did he find out Sam had anything to do with him missing a big ole ten grand? Are Sam and Ruby okay?

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

Just as she’s about to turn around, a hand clamps down onto her shoulder. She spins on her heels, smacking her elbow into the taller man’s cheek and he stumbles back into the office door, crashing into it loudly.

Pushing off of it, he raises his fists and grins at her. “Ya really wanna do this, fackin’ Yankee?” 

_Five points,_ Kara concludes when she hears his thick Irish accent. But what could they possibly want with Sam and her clinic? “Kick your ass? Sure I wanna.” She shrugs, noncommittal, and throws a right hook aimed at his jaw, which he dodges. 

Kara gets clipped in the mouth, her lower lip splits open and she feels the warm blood trickle down her chin. She responds with two well-timed uppercuts that slam into his ribs and causing him to choke on air. She feels a rib give, she hopes it's as painful as it sounds. 

Kara blocks a punch and curls her hand around his wrist tightly in the same motion, tugging on his sleeve and smashing her forehead against his nose. There’s a snap and he grunts in pain when blood comes pouring down his face. 

He stumbles into the door frame again, and two other men enter the room. “She’s just one damn girl, put her down already.” One of them says and the other laughs. They aren’t helping, they simply watch the fight unfold though they seem ready to intervene at any given moment.

Kara draws, knowing this was her only chance to finish this fight now that the odds were severely stacked against her. She isn’t quick enough, the outlaw with the broken nose tackles her to the ground and her revolver goes flying, sliding across the floor, out of reach. His hands are around her throat and she bucks her hips in an attempt to throw him off. 

“Looks like we got ourselves a live one, boys,” he chuckles.

She grips his face and pushes against it, but it doesn’t help. She then tries to twist her hips again to dislodge his tight grip around her throat but she’s unsuccessful. Kara’s starting to feel her blood pounding in her ears, her vision blurred from the lack of oxygen going to her brain. Her dire situation becomes impossible to escape when she feels one of the other men holding her legs down by clutching to her ankles. 

Before everything fades out into the darkness, she hears the one on top of her say: “Sleep tight, cowboy.”

Kara awakes tied to a chair and she finds it in herself to roll her eyes at her current predicament. _How original._ She would have said this aloud, if there wasn’t a cloth wrapped around her head, wadded into her mouth. Kara tries not to think how dirty it is or where it was before it was stuffed into her mouth when her tongue brushes against it. 

She yanks at the restraints to test them and finds they’re too sturdy to break. She closes her eyes tightly when she swallows, her swollen throat making the action painful. 

Kara was tired. Tired of this life, tired of what she’s become. Yesterday they were having a relaxing fishing trip and now she’s held captive in Sam’s office and tied down to a damn chair. It’s her fault, she asked for this—was forced into it by circumstances she had no control over—and frankly, she’s just about ready to let that life behind her.

If only they had killed her.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the great Kara Danvers in the flesh.” Kara’s eyes shoot open, scanning the man’s face. His hair is dark, peppered with grey here and there. His forehead is abnormally large, at least from her point of view, and his face his shaped like a pear. He looks like every other uptight rich asshole she ever had the displeasure of meeting.

(except Lena, of course.

Just the asshole part though, she's very much still uptight most of the time).

“I’ll be giving you my name even if low life trash like you deserves no such thing. A courtesy, if you will.” _Arrogant son of a bitch._ Kara wishes she could spit in his face. She clamps her teeth down on the gag in her mouth. It tastes like sweat. “I go by Morgan Edge, and I’m here for my wife."

Kara’s eyes widen in realization and he laughs, loud and grating. He leans over grabs a handful of her hair and yanks her head back. Kara snarls but doesn't give him the satisfaction of flinching at the pain. She holds the tears that threaten to fall, not from fear, but from the sting and burn radiating around her scalp.

"I've heard stories about you. Don't be difficult. Give me what I want and I won't ruin that pretty face of yours." He lets go of her head, roughly pushing it aside. Then he pats her cheek in a way Lena has done a thousand times. But coming from him, Kara wants nothing more than to slice each of his fingers one by one. Maybe she'll get that opportunity. She makes a promise to herself then, she's slicing off his fingers even if it's the last thing she'll do.

She wants to tell him Lena isn't hers. That she doesn't belong to anyone, and that she would kick him in the balls and stop on his throat the moment she laid eyes on him. She changed. She's not his prim and proper wife anymore. She's an outlaw, just like Kara is and that's a fact this cowboy is damn proud of.

He turns around then, undoing the two buttons of his suit that kept it closed against his stomach. He addresses one of his lackeys, the one with the busted nose. Kara tries to grin, happy about the marks she left behind on his face. “Do whatever you have to as long as she talks. And do keep that gag on her until she becomes compliant.” He turns to Kara, a sardonic smile on his cleanly-shaven face. “Hearing women scream gives me rather unpleasant headaches.” 

_Son of a fucking bitch_. 

Kara struggles against the restraints that dig into her skin, burning, leaving red marks behind.

_Alex is gonna to kill me._

_Lena is gonna to kill me._

_Heck, all the women in my life are gonna kill me if I don't die here first._

So Kara makes an effort not to, which is easier said than done when a sharp knife pierces through her jeans and her flesh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is shorter than usual, but I've had this sitting in google docs for a while and I wanted to give you guys something. There's still 1 other chapter left and an epilogue after this since I cut this last one in half.
> 
> I missed writing this dumb cowboy.
> 
> Sending everyone who reads this my love.


	7. Degrees of Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conflicts and resolutions. Well, almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So soon?? Yeah, I had most of it written. Oops.  
> Warning: mild torture.

**_Chapter 7: Degrees of Separation_ **

**_Houston Texas, DeGeorge Hotel._ **

**_October 16th, 1899._ **

Sam comes running through the hotel’s double doors, clutching to Ruby’s hand like a lifeline. It’s early enough in the day that there aren’t a lot of patrons on the first floor, most of them are just finishing their quiet lunch. Heads turn towards the commotion she causes, but she pays them no mind and rushes towards the winding staircase, where Lena and Alex are currently making their way down from, unhurried. But that changes as soon as they see Sam’s visibly shaken form, tears in her eyes and hair askew.

“What’s the matter?” Lena asks and hurries down the few steps separating her from Sam and Ruby. She grips her shoulders, green eyes searching for an explanation as they scan her face. Ruby runs into Alex’s arms as soon as she sees her. The eldest Danvers share a similar look of worry with Lena as their eyes meet. 

Lena turns towards Sam once she starts speaking, her voice trembling. “Angry men burst into my clinic. They—they killed Eve. They killed her.” A sob escapes her then and Lena resists the urge to pull her into a hug. 

“Who’s Eve? Sam, where is Kara?” She demands. She fears the worst. “Did she not meet with you?”

“She was my receptionist,” Sam whispers, head downcast and unable to meet Lena’s stare.

“Sam, what about Kara? Was she with you?” Alex repeats as she inches closer to them, Ruby clutching to her waist. She side-eyes folks who seem interested in what’s happening. She fixes them with hard looks until they turn away.

Alex still hears her last name being whispered as if it was blasphemy to say it aloud. 

Sam shakes her head, looking up at them both now, wild eyes bouncing between Lena and Alex. “No—no. She wasn’t there when I left with Ruby. We escaped through the back.”

Lena floods with relief, though she’ll find out soon it’s only momentary respite. 

“Do you think it was…?” Sam lets her sentence hang, aware they weren’t alone. Alex takes that as a cue to lead them upstairs to her room. They couldn’t possibly discuss this out in the open. Once Alex closes the door behind them, Lena leads Sam towards the unoccupied bed where they both sit down. Ruby hides her face in Sam’s shoulder and Alex leans back against the dresser facing the bed. 

“What did they look like? How did they talk? What were they wearin’?” Alex ignores the look Lena gives her.

“I—yes,” Sam stutters at the sudden barrage of questions from the brunette. “They had Irish accents I think.” 

“Five points.” _But what the hell could they want with Sam? They must have figured out she's riding with us. They would have knowledge of the clinic. Fuck._ “Kara could have gotten there _after_ y’all left.” She realizes suddenly. _Which is fuckin’ worse._ Alex’s face grows solemn with worry. 

“Then I’ll go to the clinic to find her.” Lena couldn’t bare sitting here and talking anymore. She wasn’t usually this jittery, but every second that passed her mind conjured up more horrible ways in which Kara could be harmed and she can’t take it any longer. 

Alex scoffs, pushing off towards Lena and the bed in one long, stride. “Are you mad, woman?”

“You’re willing to gamble Kara’s life?” Lena raises from her seat on the edge of the mattress and pushes her finger into Alex’s chest the second she’s close enough. “Is that what I’m hearing?” Emeralds are dark and accusing.

“Of course not!” Alex shouts back, arms open wide. “She’s my sister,” she speaks with less bite this time.

“Then why are you being obstinate about this?” Lena places a hand on her belt buckle, the other wildly gesturing as she speaks. 

“Listen to me, dammit.” Alex grips one of Lena’s shoulders, angling her head down to level her eyes with Lena’s. “The Five Points are lookin’ for you. If they have Kara, they’ll want her to give up your location.” 

“She wouldn’t do that.” Kara is as stubborn as a mule. She would let herself be killed before speaking. “Which is why we have to stop dallying and fucking go already!” She didn’t mean to yell in Alex’s face, but every fiber in her body is screaming at her to do _something_. Anything.

“She will.” Lena frowns but doesn’t interrupt. “Kara ‘n I planned for situations like these. If we have reasons to believe one of us is kidnapped then we agree to lead them to our location.”

“For an ambush.” 

Alex nods, tight-lipped, whiskey brown eyes softening. “Exactly.” 

Lena understands the logic behind it. It’s much easier to lead the captors to them than to run around trying to find a needle in a haystack or risk falling into a trap themselves. Still, she hates that idea with every ounce of energy she has left.

“They’re going to torture her and you know it,” Lena attempts to reason. Briefly, she turns to Sam, whos’ holding Ruby tight against her chest, covering her ears with her hand as if the child hadn’t already heard the worst of it.

“They need her to find us.” That’s when Lena turns back to Alex, who’s holding her hat with one hand, fixing her short hair with the other. “They’ll keep her alive.” She has to believe that. She has to trust their methods or she’ll be driven insane with worry.

Lena starts to protest, very loudly. “I don’t care—“

“You’ll do as I say and that’s final, ya hear?” Alex’s tone is sharp and commanding as she cuts Lena off. The Danvers sisters must have leadership charisma running through their veins, Lena thinks.

She acquiesces to Alex’s demand, nodding, and taking a step back. She didn’t like the uncertainty of wondering what kind of state they’ll find Kara in once her captors bring her in, but they had no other choice. Going after her now and getting herself captured as well wouldn’t help their situation any. 

“Now, we have an ambush to plan before Kara leads these pieces of shit here.”

Lena’s trigger finger has never twitched this badly in her entire life. Or rather, the entire seven months she’s gotten used to the weight of it under her index. 

***

“I’m a simple man, asking a simple question: where is my whore of a wife?”

Kara doesn’t answer for two reasons. The first, because she’s still gagged. The second, Morgan—deciding to get his hands dirty when his lackeys weren’t doing the trick—plunges the knife’s blade right into the muscle where her shoulder meets her chest.

She wants to scream, but she doesn’t. The pain is so acute, all she can do is bite into the gag until it feels like her teeth are going to crack under the pressure. Either way, she slams her boot down on his toes. He’s wearing fancy shoes, of course, no steel toe in those, so he feels every bit of pain that shoots all the way up his leg. 

(The fact that her legs weren’t tied to speaks to his arrogance or his inexperience at interrogation and torture).

Kara would laugh if again, she wasn’t gagged. 

“You fucking bitch!” He slaps her across the face and the pain is so minute compared to the blade cutting into her shoulder and it gives her a moment of reprieve. She chuckles, but it comes out as a muffled scoff. 

His hand curls around the handle of the blade and he pushes it in further. Kara bawls her hands into fists, eyes closed shut, her breath’s coming out in short bursts against the cloth now damp with her sweat and saliva. 

“Where is she?!” He screams in her face.

When she doesn’t answer, he takes great pleasure in repeatedly slamming his fists in her face. Kara thinks it must be the first time he’s doing this considering she’s certain he just broke a knuckle against her jaw. 

_Dumb bastard._

When he finally stops, breathing heavily and wiping Kara’s blood from his now swollen knuckles, bruises are starting to form all over her face, the front of her shirt is soaked in her own blood. Her eyes flutter shut but she jerks awake a moment later. Kara blinks in and out of consciousness a few times, but water is thrown in her face and she almost chokes on it, not being able to swallow properly with the gag bundled in her mouth.

Morgan tugs it down her mouth, finally, and Kara groans at the soreness left behind. She swallows hard, then he grips her face, his fingers digging into her already painfully sore jaw. “Speak girl, or I’ll find someone who will. Your sister maybe? Would you like that?”

Kara murmurs something, but it’s not loud enough that he can make out what she’s saying. When he moves closer and asks her to repeat herself she slams her forehead into his, which was a rather painful mistake. Never headbutt someone’s forehead. It’s the first rule of fighting. 

“Aw fuck that hurt.” Kara hisses, gritting her teeth. “That forehead of yours is way too big.” She peers down at the blade still embedded in her arm, she can’t feel her fingertips anymore. _Not my shootin’ arm, dammit._

Face curled into a nasty snarl, Morgan moves forward and slams his fist into her stomach, and just as she doubles over and coughs, he grips the blade’s handle and twists it inside the wound. Kara’s back arches into the chair, her head rolling back. “Why must you be so damn difficult? Just tell me where she is!”

“F-fine,” Kara sucks air in through her teeth. “First, get your stinkin’ breath away from my face.”

Morgan yanks the knife out, wipes the blade on Kara’s jeans, and takes a step back. 

She takes another sharp breath. It’s painful. “I’ll take ya there.”

“The address will suffice.”

Kara chuckles. It’s cute that he thinks he’s in control, or that he ever was. “I’ll give you your options, as a courtesy.” She leans forward on the chair as much as her restraints allow her to, and musters a smug grin even though the motion is far from pleasant. “Ya either take me there, or you can kill me ‘n never find your wife ‘cause they’ll be long gone before you even get close to them.”

It was a lie. After three hours if she wasn’t back at the hotel then Alex would know to send a search party for her. However this will go, Morgan is going to die, even if Kara has to be an unfortunate casualty. 

Morgan sighs, spinning on his heel. “One of you, wash her face.” He commands. The tallest of the three, the one who held down Kara’s legs when she was getting choked out, nods at Morgan’s words then winks at Kara as he steps further into the room. 

Once her face is clean enough, Kara’s hands are tied in front of her. They lead her downstairs and hoist her up on Morgan’s horse. She gives them the right directions to the hotel without hesitation. It’s been two hours, she stalled long enough to give them time to prepare for the ambush—or so she hoped. Maybe she should have dicked him around longer. 

She leads them along the longest route she can think of.

Kara tries to focus anything else but the stinging pain like a bolt of electricity shooting up her arm all the way to the back of her head in time with the bounce of the horse’s gallop. She only catches the end of Morgan’s speech, something she’s grateful for. 

“—Keep your head down, if you attract any attention before we get in, It’ll be my pleasure to put a bullet in your head.”

A low chuckle rumbles in Kara’s throat.

“What are you laughing about? Do you honestly believe I don’t know we’re most likely walking into a shootout? You’re my bargaining chip and the moment they open fire you’re dead.” 

Again, Kara simply shakes her head. This man’s ignorance and ego will be his demise. She’ll make sure of that. Whether it’s by her hand or Lena’s, it didn’t matter. His future is already written on a wooden cross, something along the lines of _here lies a devoted husband_. Complete bullshit, of course. Comedic nonetheless. Moreso on the dark side of humor. 

The horses slow down near the hotel’s entrance. No one around, which means Alex convinced everyone to leave. Good. They leave her sitting atop the horse, she takes that as a hint she’ll have to figure out how to climb off with both of her hands tied together, and her right arm practically useless.

She swings her left foot over the saddle and slides off, her boots hitting the dirt with a thud, spurs chiming in. She clenches her jaw, teeth pressed tightly together. How is it that she can’t feel her fingers but every nerve ending around the gash in her arm is throbbing like someone threw acid in it?

Morgan grabs her by the back of her shit, his fist clenching around the thin material as he drags her through the front entrance, pushing her through the double doors after kicking them open.

“Honey, I’m home!” Kara yells, chuckling as she collides into the back of a chair that screeches against the wooden floors, moving forward with her weight. Maybe she’s gone delirious from the blood loss, or maybe it’s the adrenaline making her head swim.

“Shut your damn mouth!” One of them kicks the back of her leg and it gives easily, one hand grips the edge of the round table as she drops down to one knee.

“Ow!” Kara complains, turning to them. “Ya don’t gotta mishandle the goods. I brought you here, didn’t I?”

Lena's voice takes them all by surprise. When Kara’s head snaps in her direction, she notices the hotel’s first floor seems completely empty. 

“Morgan,” Lena greets from as she descends the staircase. Her voice is frigid. Every emotion rips through her when her gaze lands on the man that brought her so much grief, pain, fear, uncertainty—the man that almost stole her will to live. 

“Lena, my dear.” He pauses, taking in the way her raven hair falls in soft curls around her shoulders. How she’s wearing a blood-red chemise with dark suspenders, black trousers, and a gunbelt that hangs low on her hips. “You look...different.”

“I am.” It’s a simple answer, and Lena's ready to show him just how much she's changed and what that means for his dwindling future.

Kara smiles when Lena does and their gazes meet. Green eyes soften and Kara nods at the unspoken question. She strengthens at the sight of the blond alone, but perhaps it relied to see her alive. The woman that gave her back her joy to live. The one who helped her find the confidence she thought was long gone. 

“You let this cowboy and her band of thieves corrupt you. I thought you smarter than that,” he sighs, “you disappoint me.”

Lena’s gaze flicks to Morgan, her jaw clenching. “What makes you think I give a fuck?” She wants to laugh at the way his eyes widen at the curse that leaves her mouth. “Let her go and I’ll come with you. It’s the only way you’re getting out of this alive.”

“It’s noble that you would trade your life for her, but you misunderstand my intentions. I’m not here to take you back home.” He lifts the revolver that he wasted more time on making it look pretty than actually shooting it. “Consider this a marriage annulment.”

Kara elbows him in the ribs and the shot goes wide, hitting the wooden rail of the staircase, Lena ducks out of instinct. When she sees Kara run and knock a table over, sliding behind it for cover, Lena follows her.

The doors of the hotel open behind them and about ten other gang members of the Five Points rush in, guns drawn. Alex is on the second floor looking down, she’s the only defense against Sam and Ruby, who are locked in their room. Lucy and James are behind the bar. 

Lena takes out her knife from its holster and cuts Kara loose, she reaches for her right hand and squeezes it but receives no response. She frowns, searching a bruised and battered face for an answer. 

“Gimme that,” Kara reaches for Lena’s pump-action shotgun with her left hand. “I’ll shoot your dick off Morgan, where ya at?” She yells, cocking the weapon with a hard yank of her right hand.

“You can’t feel your arm.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Give me that,” Lena echoes the blonde’s words and rips the shotgun from her hands then pushes her own revolver into her chest.

Kara rolls her eyes but scoots herself so her back is pressed against the table. “We’re pinned down here, once Alex starts shootin’ ‘em get over to that table,” She nods her chin just over Lena’s shoulder after she tries to lift her right arm but fails, the left clutching to Lena’s revolver. “Push it down and call out their locations for me.”

“Kara,” Lena reaches out to touch her face, finger tracing the angry-looking gash above her left eye.

Kara flinches, and then takes Lena’s hand in hers, brushing her lips against the back of it. “I’m fine.”

A shotgun blast rips off a large chunk of the table they’re hiding behind. They both duck their heads as shards of wood explode around them. 

“All of this unnecessary violence can be avoided if you just give me my wife!” Morgan yells from his cover, the poker table. _Damn, not the poker table_ , Kara grumbles silently. 

Lena leans forward and pulls at one of Kara’s suspenders with one hand. “Lie to me again, Danvers, and this firefight will be the least of your worries.”

She loves it when Lena gets angry. The way her jaw clenches, her brow furrows slightly, her nose almost curling into a snarl. “I—uh, sorry?”

While Kara is stuttering Alex opens fire, and Lena springs into action. Lucy and James providing cover fire from their position behind the bar as she tips the table over with a kick and crouches behind it. 

“2 o’clock, behind a booth,” Lena calls out, and Kara falls slightly more in love with her every passing second. She shoots, but it misses. 

Lena turns to her, jaw set and eyes wide. “What the hell was that?”

“I ain’t a good shot with my left!” She shouts over the sound of gunfire and bullets striking various surfaces and glasses breaking. She shrugs and Lena groans, shaking her head.

“Then call them out to me!”

Kara’s certain she hears Lena call her a ‘blithering fool’. She’s not sure what blithering mean,s but it sounded pretty coming out of Lena’s mouth so she grins like a love-struck fool. 

The blood loss is a tad worse than she thought. 

“Yes, dear!” Kara laughs, it’s throaty and low when she earns another glower from Lena. _You’re truly the most beautiful woman I've ever met_ , she wants to say. Instead, Kara shouts: “Your twelve, behind the staircase!”

Lena blasts him away with buckshot, his hat, and his head are obliterated in the process. 

Kara’s trying really hard not to make a joke about Morgan’s men losing their heads, so she focuses on the task at hand. “Another by the stairs. 1 o’clock!”

He gets pelted in the chest and crumples to the ground. Alex and the others manage to down a few while Lena reloads. The odds are certainly starting to shift in their favor, the bar, and the second floor giving them tactical advantage. 

Morgan might have been smart enough to figure out he wasn’t walking into a trap, but it seems he and his gang of outlaws were nothing more than angry cowboys. Shoot first, think never.

She snorts and continues to call out their position to Lena until the only one remaining is Edge himself. Kara springs up from her position, hissing loudly as pain radiates all throughout her body. Her witty remark dies on her lips.

He tries to make a run for it, but James is quicker. He hops over the bar and tackles him to the ground. They go down hard, Morgan’s chin hitting the beer-stained floorboards. 

“Don’t shoot! I can give you money. More than you can ever dream of.”

“Not interested in shootin’ you, or takin’ your money.” He looks relieved, but it only lasts a moment. Kara hands Lena her revolver, which she points at his head.

Lena’s lips twitch, then trembles, as her voice does. “Consider this a marriage annulment you bastard.” All the pain and all of the hurt he caused her surfaces while her finger slides over the trigger, but then the hotel’s doors slam open. Law enforcement and Texas Rangers point their weapons at them, yelling at the gang to drop theirs. The next few moments are a blur, sound cutting out entirely.

Kara and Lena lock eyes, nodding, they both take shots at the officers in front in perfect unity. The men stumble back into the other officers behind them, giving Kara and Lena a tight window to make a run for it. Kara grips James by the back of his shirt, and he scrambles to his feet where he was still pinning Morgan down.

They escape through the back. All of them make it out alive. But they’re still running. Always running from something. Kara’s tired of it, so incredibly tired that when they regroup she faints in someone’s arms. Somewhere in her half-conscious haze, she knows it’s Lena that catches her.

***

**_Taos, New Mexico._ **

**_October 28th, 1899._ **

When Kara wakes up she notices a few things. The first, that she’s alive. The second, that her throat is dry like she ate sand and it hurts when she swallows. The third, that wherever they are, it’s hot as balls. The bedsheets she’s in are damp with her sweat.

A door creaks open and Kara turns her head towards the sound. It hurts, but the sight of Lena washes the pain away. At least, for a little bit. 

“You’re awake.” Lena's holding back the urge to run into Kara's arms. It's harder than she imagined.

“Not really,” Kara closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Her chest hurts when she does. “Where the hell are we?” She inquires when she doesn’t recognize the room she’s in. The drapes are closed, but sun rays still seep through. It’s dusty where the light shines; small and humid.

“New Mexico,” she supplies, her voice soft and even.

Kara has been out long enough they had time to travel to fucking New Mexico without waking up once. Maybe she did, her memory is hazy at the moment.

“Samantha treated you as best she could while we were traveling. She said you lost a lot of blood and…” Lena swallows hard, but it doesn’t help keep her emotions at bay. “That it wasn’t looking too good.”

Kara forces a smile on her face for Lena’s benefit. Maybe it’s for her own sake as well. “Well, guess the doc was wrong. I ain’t goin’ down that easy.”

Lena sighs as she sits down on the bed, the thin mattress dipping down with her weight. She brushes her fingertips against Kara’s sweaty forehead, moving the strands of hair that are stuck there before placing a cold cloth on top of it. 

“You’re still extremely warm.”

“No shit. We’re in New Mexico.”

Lena smiles, it’s small but it’s there. She reaches out and slides her hand down Kara’s left arm and tangles their fingers together. “She also said you might not gain full functionality of your right arm. Something about not being able to repair the damaged nerves.”

Kara turns away from Lena’s stare, hiding her tears. They don’t fall because of her arm, they fall because she’s exhausted from everything. “I’m tired of runnin’. I’m tired of bein’ scared. I’m tired of wakin’ up like this,” she scoffs, her voice is watery. “It’s either you, or me, or my sister. It’ll always be someone I love gettin’ hurt. I just—I don’t have it in me no more.” 

Lena’s silent for a long moment. She squeezes Kara’s hand. “No one will find us here.” It’s supposed to reassure Kara, but how can it when Lena’s not certain if that’s true or not?

“For now, maybe,” Kara speaks the words Lena was thinking but was too afraid to say herself. “I want to leave that life behind. I can’t do it. Not anymore.” _Not when your life's on the line._

“I know. I know, darling.” Lena shushes gently, moving forward and pressing her lips to Kara’s cheek, lingering near her mouth and nuzzling her jaw.

Kara sits up with Lena’s help. It’s not pleasant, and she blows out a breath when her head rolls head back against the wall. She stares at the ceiling intently. Lena settles against her, mindful of her injuries. She clings to Kara’s hand still, lifting her other hand and letting it rest on Kara’s stomach, on top of the bandages.

“Will you stay with me? We can buy a house, do some honest work for some honest pay and live the rest of our lives without all this bullshit?” 

Lena laughs genuinely this time, and Kara’s heart flutters at the sound.

Lena had been worried sick. At one point she wasn't sure if Kara was ever going to wake up. So yes, she'll agree to whatever Kara wants to do, and follow her wherever she wants to go, but not before teasing her for a little bit. It's only fair. “If this is a marriage proposal, Miss Danvers, it’s seriously lacking in romance.” 

Kara shifts, lifting Lena’s chin up. She’s serious, Lena sees it clearly. “Will you stay with me? Here. Wherever. You and I, and maybe Alex if she stops fussin’ over me like I’m some dumb kid.”

“She loves you,” Lena whispers, eyes fluttering close when Kara’s hand covers her cheek, her thumb moving back and forth against the soft skin below. She sighs, melting into the touch.

“I know that.” 

“I love you too, you know,” Lena confesses, opening her eyes when Kara’s breath tickles her lips. She’s grinning, a brilliant kind of smile. If it wasn’t for the rays of light weren’t illuminating certain parts of the room Lena would bet everything she has that the blonde is the sun herself. 

“Does that mean you’ll stay?” Kara looks almost child-like, blue eyes filled with hope.

Lena can’t help the smirk that tugs the corner of her lips and the warmth spreading in her chest. “Alex is right, you are a ‘dumb kid’.”

When they kiss, it’s more than simple desire and want. It conveys a promise that they both make to each other. Their future is still uncertain, somethings they can’t possibly plan or avoid or even predict—but it’s a start. And a damn good one at that. 

“I love you too,” Kara whispers against Lena’s lips.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO I FINISHED A DAMN FIC FOR ONCE OMG?? Okay, so there's still the epilogue left but still. Also, don't hate me, I didn't want to leave y'all hanging, Edge will get what's coming to him. One day. 
> 
> I really, really, loved writing this. It was a true joy and I want to thank every person that took their time to read it. Y'all are amazing and I hope it provided some entertainment in these tough times.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the very last one. I put it off for so long cause I didn't want it to end for real lmao.
> 
> Warning: mentions of sexual abuse, some blood and violence.

**_Chapter 8: Epilogue_ **

**_Ruidoso, New Mexico._ **

**_May 15th, 1900._ **

  
  


Another year, another hot and sticky summer in the southernmost parts of the great country called America. What a wonderful time to be alive, _and drenched in sweat like a damn pig._

Kara sighs deeply, emotionally, dramatically. It comes from deep within her soul, from a place of eternal discontent. It’s self-hatred, she ponders, or maybe it’s punishment from the heavens.

She’s standing in front of the Spanish-owned saloon she frequents daily. Her shirt is sticking to her sweat-soaked back, the cotton suspenders have been thrown off her shoulders though it makes little difference. Her sleeves are rolled up to her elbows as per usual and she wishes that walking pantless was a socially acceptable way of parading in public. It’s the nineteenth century, after all, it should be.

She glances at the horse’s water tank and debates throwing herself down in front of it, gripping the edges and dunking her head in. But, with the sun beating down on it all day it’s probably just as warm as the humid air. Even with the sun setting and the stars out, the wind isn’t any cooler. 

Kara shakes her golden hair loose from the confines of her hat, wiping her sweaty brow with her forearm. With a look of determination and pure cowboy grit, she plops the dusty leather hat back onto her head and climbs the three wooden steps that lead to the saloon’s double swinging doors. 

She eyes the sign nailed above, ‘No Scum Allowed’, it reads. Now if that were true, the barkeep would never let her in. She smiles to herself, her bare hand pushing the doors open to let herself in. The regulars turn around, looking up from their drinks. Some wave, some nod. She pulls the brim of her hat down in greeting. 

“Hola! Qué tal?” The man standing behind the bar welcomes his regular customer jovially. Grey hairs pepper his beard and lighten the once dark hair around his temple and forehead. 

He’s handsome, in a gruff kind of way. 

“Sweatin’ like a damn fool,” Kara leans forward on the worn bar’s surface, “why’d I move here again?” 

“The beautiful scenery?” He supplies with a grin. His accent isn’t thick. Frankly, his English is better than hers. 

They both know that’s not the answer. Most folks around here are retired criminals, outlaws that come here to live the rest of their days in peace and quiet. 

“Dirt ‘n cactuses as far as the eye can see, livin’ the dream!” Kara exclaims waving her arm around, her boisterous voice dripping with sarcasm. 

The local man standing next to her laughs. Kara knows him as the owner of the only farm in this town, John _something,_ she can't remember _._ Pretty wife. Nice boy. Though she’s not sure how he manages to grow anything green around here.

He tries again. “The good company, then?”

Kara snorts. “Debatable. You’re the only one I like, Andrés.” 

The farmer frowns slightly. She claps her hand on his shoulder to offer some type of comfort, to assure him it’s nothing personal. 

“Tryna get a free drink out of me, miss?” Andrés teases with a wink. 

Kara fakes an affronted look. “Here I thought we had somethin’ special.”

“The usual, _vaquero_?” He’s already turning around to fetch a beer from the wooden crate.

Kara clinks the beer with John’s before bringing it to her lips. Oh, how she wishes that liquid was cold. But it’s not, and it tastes like piss. She grimaces slightly when she swallows it. 

“No company tonight?” The bartender asks.

“You sure as shit like askin’ questions, don’t ya?”

John snorts his beer. Kara pats him on the back. Again.

“Look around,” Andrés gestures with his hand, dirty towel flapping about with the motion, “you’re the only _pendejo_ sober enough to hold a conversation.”

“Fuck you too,” John grumbles. His voice is gravely, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. He sounds like she smokes twelve-packs of cigarettes a day but Kara’s never seen him smoke one.

Kara takes another long pull of the piss-warm beer. “Try livin’ in a house with four other women and tell me ya don’t need a drink at the end by the day.”

Both men laugh despite themselves. They’re a little unsure, though, considering the ex-gunslinger also falls under the ‘woman’ category. They’ve noticed.

“Oh diablos. No dejes que te escuchen decir eso.”

Seven months is a short time to learn a new language, but Kara’s gotten the hang of it surprisingly quickly. Lena already spoke Spanish, of course. She says it’s a lot like French, but Kara thinks she’s full of shit. Lena likes to pretend that she isn’t a genius who knows how to speak several languages fluently. She doesn’t want to tell Kara the exact number. 

“Leave your dirty boots outside. Don’t feed the stray dogs. Stop snorin’.” There’s no hint of malice behind her words, of course, she’s never been happier. She wakes up next to Lena every day, and though the lack of privacy makes it a little complicated to be intimate, the warm food Sam prepares every day more than makes up for it. 

Most days.

Other days, she meets Lena at the stables she works at, and when old man Connelley isn’t around they allow themselves a private moment to roll around the mess of hay that works surprisingly well as a makeshift bed.

“Whiskey on the house.” He pours the amber liquid in two shot glasses. She must look like she needs it. He understands her troubles.

“I love you.” Kara’s never been one to throw this particular phrase out so liberally, but this situation calls for it. She clinks her glass with John’s once more, a habit they’ve developed over the months.

Andrés shrugs. There’s a barely contained grin on his lips. “You’re good company when you drink.”

Kara really tries to be offended, but he makes a damn good point. She throws the shot back. It stings, but she’s used to it.

“Kara Danvers.”

The voice makes her snap her head towards the sound of heavy footfalls and stirrups approaching. She pushes the brim of her hat up with her index, no use in hiding now. 

“Bravo-Too-Much.” 

He seems to stiffen at the nickname Kara uses.

“I believe we have unfinished business.”

_No shit._

Texas fucking Ranger Jack Hayes. Kara turns to Andres, he stops washing the glass in his hand. His posture is rigid. His eyes don’t give away anything, but Kara sees him quickly glance at the shotgun she knows is hidden behind the bar. 

“Pour the man a drink, will ya?” She nods her head at the Ranger, taking a sip of her beer to calm herself. She’s not nervous. Truly, she’s more afraid of Lena would react if she were to cause a scene tonight. There would be no escaping her wrath.

“You’re a hard one to track, Danvers.” He says, nodding politely at the bartender as he takes the offered drink without protest.

Kara snorts. She’s staring straight ahead of her. The spot above Andres’ shoulder holds no interest other than to help her center her thoughts. _Don’t act a fool, now._

“I say not hard enough seeing as I gotta stare at your crooked face.”

“I ain’t here to make a scene.”

“Then don’t. These lovely folk don’t deserve to have their night ruined by the likes of you.”

“Seven months of good behavior doesn’t erase the bounty on your head, Danvers.” 

She knows that. Better than anyone. But she’s trying, and they’ve got something good now. Sure, their house is small, and they have to take turns sleeping on the couch so the kid doesn’t have to, but it’s home. For now.

It’s not the town. It’s definitely not the weather and it sure as shit is not the country or lack thereof. Her peace of mind comes from knowing the only people that matter to her are safe, protected.

“Don’t you flap those lips of yours like you’re anythin’ other than a dead man walkin’. Ya know damn well how this is gonna go down.”

Kara’s still the best shot in this entire state. Country even.

“How’s your arm?”

Alright, so maybe she had to relearn how to shoot with her left. At the mention of her injury, her fingers start to go numb as they often do. It’s sporadic, lasts for a few minutes. Nothing major. It often causes her to drop whatever she’s holding at the moment. Several beers have plummeted to an untimely death because of it.

Thankfully, her beer is sitting against the bar. She hides her hand, flexes it, willing the sensation to come back. If she’s going to have to engage him, she’ll have to use her right hand. The ranger may be a boot-licker, but he’s a damn good shot.

“How’d you find me anyway?” She tries to detract, buy herself some time. She’s still unsure what to do. She can’t go with him willingly. She won’t.

“Mister Edge has been a great help.”

 _Scumbag_. 

“Yeah? He’s here then?” Her leg twitches, she wants to run home. Logically, she knows Lena can take care of herself, and Alex is most likely there. Still, her mind can’t help but conjure up the worst possible scenario. 

Worst things have happened to them.

“He wanted to make sure the matter gets resolved personally.”

“Sorry, Andrés.” 

Two things are noteworthy. The first, that Kara never apologizes for anything. Second, that the bartender is well aware of that fact. So, the second the words are out of her mouth, Andrés takes a step back. 

“Listen, we can settle this—”

Kara breaks the bottle over his head before he finishes whatever bullshit was about to come out of his mouth. A plea bargain, perhaps. Kara will never agree to that. She won’t consider it even if they have to run further south and start over again. Even if they have to cross the border.

While he’s stunned from the hit, she grips the loose bandana around his neck and yanks it down. His head smashes into the counter once. She tugs on the piece of cloth a second time, and again. The third hit knocks him out cold. 

“Thanks for the drinks.” She throws a few bills on the counter now stained with beer _and_ blood, a parting gift.

When she turns around, John’s pushing Jack on his back with his foot. He shakes his head, giving Kara a look when his eyes level with hers. “You’re nothin’ but trouble, woman _.”_

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” 

“You shouldn’t!” He shouts to her retreating back. 

Kara sprints to the house, her boots kick up dust behind her. She curses herself for walking to the saloon, for letting Thumper The Second at home. 

_Of all the fuckin’ days..._

When she bursts through the door, shoulder first, the first thing she sees is Morgan tied to one of their dining room chairs with a bloody nose. Lena has her shotgun resting on her shoulder, the stock stained with fresh blood. 

_Atta girl._

Jack enters soon after, pointing his revolver at Lena, then draws his second and aims it towards Kara. He’s still trying to shake off the hits he took to the head. John didn’t stop him, she can’t blame him, his wife would have his head if he somehow got mixed up into this.

Her thumb cocks her gun’s hammer back with a distinctive click. She doesn’t know where to look. Lena. Morgan. The Ranger. Fuck. 

Lena seems relieved to see her. Kara mirrors her smile. It lasts less than a second.

She settles on Jack. “You got some balls comin’ in my house uninvited.”

“The house you paid for with blood money.”

“Ya might wanna ask your _partner_ here what he’s done. He ain’t no saint.”

“Tell him,” Lena yanks his head back, tugging on the handful of hair she has in her clenched fist. “Tell him how you forced yourself upon me every single night.” 

“Force myself upon you? You are my wife! It certainly isn’t my fault you didn’t enjoy my di—“

Kara’s glad Lena hits him again. With her fist, this time. Blood drips from his mouth and trickles down onto their kitchen table. 

She turns up her nose at the sight.

“Stop hitting me, woman!”

“You never stopped.”

The reality of her words sink in. Lena’s had a lot of time to process his abuse, sure. The gentle way Kara cared for her helped immensely. It still hurts. Even if she has a family now, a real one, it can never take away all the ways this bastard has scared her heart.

She hits him again. 

Kara doesn’t fight the slight smile tugs the corner of her lip upwards. 

“Tell him how you bought me off my mother like some whore!”

Kara’s stomach turns. She’s heard all of this before, and yet she’s barely holding herself back from ripping his throat open with her bare hands.

“It sounds like your issue lies with Lilian. It was _her_ idea and _her_ doing. _She_ came to _me_.” 

Lena laughs. It lacks amusement and joy. It’s bitter and dry. He’s trying to rid himself of culpability. What any despicable man would do. “You accepted. You knew what you were doing while I had no say in it.”

“So what if I did? You lay with women behind my back. If I recall correctly, that is grounds for jailing as well.”

Lena releases his head and takes a step back. She’s said her peace. Her green eyes snap up to meet the Ranger’s. He looks torn. His eyes are wide at the confession his ‘partner’ revealed.

“If you want a criminal, he’s yours. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that you’ll both walk out of here alive.” Lena’s final offer. An ultimatum. 

Kara would have said the same thing. She keeps her revolver pointed at Jack.

“I don’t trust either of you.” He admits, his eye darting between Morgan and Lena.

“Choose quickly or I’ll make the choice for ya.” Kara’s arm is starting to hurt. Dull pain throbbing. If her grip starts to loosen, she’ll have to shoot. If she lets it fall, the Ranger will not hesitate to open fire on them. 

“Put him in a cell long enough and he’ll squeal like the _pig_ he is.” Lena’s shotgun is pointed at the Ranger now. She knows Edge can’t do anything other than an attempt to talk his way out of this situation. The size of his mouth greatly surpasses the size of his manhood.

“Do you know who I am? They’ll be looking for me. My people will come for me!” His voice is loud, Lena can’t help but flinch at the memories of it being directed at her.

There’s a long stretch of silence.

“Three days,” Jack breathes, finally, “if he doesn’t talk in three days I'm bringing all of you in.” 

“That ain’t gonna happen, but we’ll take your generous offer.” Kara nods, winking at him in the usual self-assured manner. If he doesn’t talk in three days, they’ll be long gone, she thinks.

It takes two days for Edge to realize that no one is coming for him. He offers to pay the Sheriff off, then Hayes, then Kara herself. He’s growing impatient. All shreds of hope he had been holding onto leave him when he realizes that not everyone can be bought like mere cattle. 

He confesses, hoping for a lenient sentence perhaps. He’s found guilty of physical and emotional abuse and of breaking the sacred bonds of marriage, punishable by death. 

Their marriage is annulled. 

The entire town gathers around the gallows the day of his hanging. Edge’s eyes don’t leave Lena until a bag is thrown over his head. Lena doesn’t look away. She’s been waiting for justice for too long, she’s going to see it through, figuratively and literally. 

Kara remains close to her, but she doesn’t touch her. Lena’s been skittish since they found him in their home, and Kara respects that she needs time. That she’ll need time.

Lena flinches when he drops down, still, she doesn’t look away. He makes a gurgling sound, desperately seeking air he’ll never have the pleasure of breathing in ever again. She doesn’t cry. She doesn’t react, really, and it’s cause for some concern. 

She’s distant for the rest of the week and Kara keeps her distances. 

She goes through the motions, going about their established routine. Except that Lena doesn’t kiss Kara when she comes home. She doesn’t jump in her arms. She doesn’t hold her hand when they walk in town. She barely smiles.

Kara’s at a loss. She wishes someone would just tell her how to make it better. How to help her.

The only time the warmth Lena usually carries comes back is when they’re both lying in bed together. She tucks her head underneath Kara’s chin and simply breathes, holding her tightly. Kara doesn’t mind, she squeezes back just as hard.

It takes Lena two weeks to break down. Kara finds her sitting on the edge of their bed, silent tears streaming down her face. She doesn’t hesitate this time, she drops to her knees in front of her, takes both of her hands in hers until Lena meets her gaze.

She doesn’t speak. Lena stands and walks into Kara’s arms, her own trapped against Kara’s chest, fists bunched into the coarse material of her shirt.

“It’s over now.” She repeats, over and over, her lips grazing Lena’s temple.

They stay like this for a while as if the world stops turning on its axis. The only feeling that exists is the warmth of Kara’s arms and the tears staining her shirt.

***

**_Ruidoso, New Mexico._ **

**_August 3rd, 1902._ **

  
  


“A crazy thing just happened: I saw you entering _my_ house with _your_ dirty boots.”

Kara sighs and stops at the threshold. She hops up on one foot as she yanks her boot off, then removes the other in the same goofy manner. She leaves them outside on the porch and then closes the door behind her. 

It’s quiet. Too quiet. Apart from Lena’s laughter filling the small kitchen area.

“You smell foul,” Lena complains though she’s smiling when Kara leans down to kiss her.

“We finished puttin' up the walls of Carson’s house,” Kara explains, eyes darting everywhere around the house. She frowns.

“That explains the smell of booze.” Lena doesn’t look up from her book this time as she flips to the next page.

“Where’s everyone?”

“Fishing.”

Humming to herself, Kara pushes the suspenders off her shoulders and undoes the button of her shirt one by one. 

“You comin’ in the bath with me?” She asks, peering at Lena over her shoulder. She catches a glimpse of bright green eyes trying to feign disinterest and pretend like she wasn’t staring straight at Kara’s ass.

The outlaw is only acutely aware. How can a book be more interesting than her perfectly, muscular, and well-rounded behind? You’d have to be blind to chose the former, she surmises.

“Be there in a minute.”

“Oh, ya got a letter,” Kara remembers suddenly. She pulls it out of her trouser’s back pocket. It’s crumpled, Lena only glowers at her for a moment before she steals it from Kara’s hand and opens it. Kara then disappears behind the wall divider that separates the kitchen from the bathtub.

They’ve been here for nearly two years. The town’s grown since then, stores opened as more families moved in. Kara’s built most of their houses. Lena’s taken over the stable after old man Connelley passed.

Ironic, isn’t it? How Lena used to think Kara had gone mad when she would speak with her horse, and now she does it every damn day. It’s hilarious, really. Kara reminds her almost every single day. 

‘Have fun with your friends’, she would tell her.

“It’s from my brother.”

She hears Lena say as she carefully descends into the warm water, hands gripping either side of the metal tub. Their home may be meek and small, but they allowed themselves the luxury of indoor plumbing, a necessity in a house occupied by five women.

“Yeah? What he want?”

Lena’s eyes are glued to the words scrawled in dark ink. She stares at them in disbelief. She reads it and rereads it. “He...wants us to break him out of prison. In New York.”

It doesn’t state that exactly, he’s writing in code just like they did as kids when they didn’t want Lilian to know what they were up to. Even now, they still use it. Lex had kept sending her letters since she left New York—he had been the one to help her escape Morgan’s clutches—perhaps this is his way of asking her to repay that favor.

Lena’s thoughts are broken by Kara’s deep chuckles.

“You know, when I met ya,” water sloshes as she covers her arms with soap, “ya couldn’t make a joke to save your life.”

“I truly wish I was, my love.”

The water stills. Lena holds her breath, though she’s not sure why. Will Kara want to go with her? Or will she have to leave a part of herself behind to save her brother?

She folds the letter, places it gently into its envelope. She lets it sit on the table, her chair scraping against the wooden floor as she stands up. She starts undoing the buttons of her shirt, divested of it before she appears to Kara behind the wall.

Kara’s ocean blue eyes never leave hers. Not when she rids herself of all her clothes, not when she lowers herself into the tub opposite the blonde.

“You wanna leave, then?”

Lena shifts forward, taking one of Kara’s soap-covered hand in hers. “Only if you were to come with me.”

Kara turns her head, eyes locked to their joined hands. She absently plays with Lena’s fingers. They both have rings on their left hands. Legally, it means nothing, she knows that much. 

She had found Lena out on the porch one evening, sat on the bench Kara built her. She had dropped one of the golden bands in Kara’s open palm, then kissed her until Kara’s lungs screamed for air. It had meant everything. 

She looks up then, her solemn look replaced with a brilliant grin. “New York, huh?”

“New York.” Lena nods. She lets herself smile, only because she can see the answer clear as day in Kara’s eyes.

“Well, this whole ‘good cowboy’ thing ain’t really workin’ out for me anyway.”

“Thank God,” Lena lets out a relieved breath and sinks further into the tub, “I thought I was the only one going absolutely mad.”

“I threaten Billy at gunpoint last week,” Kara admits with a small chuckle.

 _That’s why the poor boy never comes by to see Ruby anymore_ , Lena realizes. She fights off a smile. “I swindled that old hag out of a few pieces of jewelry.”

Kara’s eyes widen and immediately snap to the ring on her finger.

“Not _those_ pieces of jewelry.” Lena laughs.

“John’s ranch got raided when I was there ‘n I killed a few of ‘em.”

Lena’s a little jealous she missed out on a good ole shootout. 

“You’re smiling. Why are you smiling?”

“Why are you?”

They both laugh as they lean forward, sharing a kiss that’s filled with promise. New adventures await them, perhaps even more trouble then they’re currently banking on. They did really try to make this work, to live a quiet life. They had peace, for a bit. It isn’t for them, this life.

It never was.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did y'all like that sequel set up???? Imagine these idiots, making a mess of New York. 🤭 🤭


End file.
